The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) states that it continues to combat "about 58 to 200" online gambling companies in the country.
This comes over two months since President Ferdinand Marcos took office, during which he banned online gambling companies in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said: "We still receive many reports that these illegal online gambling companies continue to operate... We are taking the President's order seriously, that by the end of this year, all of these will be gone," as reported by TeleRadyo Servisyo's Johnson Ikwento Mo.
However, Casio mentioned that PAOCC and officials from the Department of Justice believe that online gambling companies should completely cease their operations by October 16, and from that target date, their operations should be purely administrative, which is why we are discussing with the Department of Justice.
The OIC of PAGCOR mentioned how difficult it is to shut down even the legal POGOs, as they still have administrative matters to resolve, such as paying fees to the Department of Labor, the IRS, and severance payments (if any),” he said.
Casio added before the Marcos Jr. administration. After the ban was issued, about 58 to 400 online gambling companies (whether legal or not) were operating in the country.
On Monday, the Bureau of Immigration again issued a reminder to foreign online gambling workers, asking them to voluntarily downgrade their visas before the October 15 deadline.
Over 10,000 POGO workers have applied for visa downgrades, allowing foreigners to revert their work visas to temporary visitor visas, enabling them to legally stay in the country for 59 days while "wrapping up their affairs."
The Bureau of Immigration emphasized that foreign workers who fail to downgrade or leave the country by December 31 will be deported or blacklisted.
Meanwhile, following President Marcos's statement in his SONA, the new Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Jonvic Remulla, also pledged to ensure that all online gambling companies cease operations by December.
