Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia issued a warning on Friday to foreigners who might be secretly involved with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), demanding that they leave the city.
Garcia told the Philippine News Agency, "If there are illegal activities, such as online gambling companies, I wouldn't rule out their presence in Cebu City. But what I can say is that we are monitoring them, and we are slowly closing in on them."
Before Garcia's comments, police discovered POGO activities at a resort in Moalboal, a diving hotspot, on Wednesday and arrested 38 Chinese nationals.
Call centers and other institutions similar to POGOs are under inspection, while the Office of Business Permits and Licensing is reviewing the licenses issued to businesses operating in economic and information technology zones.
Garcia stated that the local government is relying on the intelligence division of the Cebu City Police Department to search for illegal online gaming centers that might be defrauding innocent citizens through scams.
He reiterated the city government's determination to shut down all POGO centers, as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address in July.
"Our stance is clear. We do not want Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in Cebu City. That's it. If they are currently operating here secretly, then they must stop and leave Cebu City immediately," Garcia said.
Before the discovery of POGO activities in Moalboal, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid on a POGO center at a resort in Lapu-Lapu City on August 31.
