Combating illegal online gambling remains a challenge for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
As a result, it has intensified intelligence gathering and collaboration with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to shut down illegal online gambling centers.
At a PIA press conference, Raul Villanueva, the Senior Vice President of Security and Surveillance Cluster at PAGCOR, stated that illegal online gambling companies are operating like guerrillas, hidden in apartments and communities.
In its monitoring, about a dozen illegal online gambling companies are located in Cebu, one in Mindanao, and a large number in Luzon, especially in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, the number of internet gambling licensees, IGL, that PAGCOR is focusing on has dropped to 38.
It also pleads with IGLs to voluntarily downgrade their foreign workers' visa levels.
In fact, out of 9,831 foreign workers, 8,161 have voluntarily requested a visa downgrade, accounting for 83%.
