An official from the Philippine President's Anti-Organized Crime Commission said on Tuesday that some large Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) are breaking into smaller groups, renaming themselves as business process outsourcing firms, and relocating to the Visayas and Mindanao islands.
PAOCC Director Winnie Quidato revealed this during a Senate hearing on illegal offshore gaming operators.
"The large POGO companies we had previously raided or that existed before... we found that they have split into small groups. Some even now brand themselves as business process outsourcing companies," Quidato said at the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
"They have been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of turning BPO into BPO," he added.
Quidato further stated that the POGOs, which previously operated with thousands of people, have now become "guerrilla groups" of 10 to 20 individuals. He cited their raids in Parañaque City, where suspected POGOs operated in 45 houses within a district.
"Since we are active in the Luzon area, we found that most POGOs are now located in several areas of the Visayas islands and even in Mindanao. They operate there," Quidato shared.
After the October 15 deadline for POGO workers to voluntarily downgrade their visas, Quidato also shared that some of the foreign workers have moved to the Visayas and Mindanao islands.
"They are supposed to take care of their relatives in the Philippines and say goodbye, sell their apartments, take care of their vehicles, loans. We have monitored some of them moving to different places," he said.
"They are flying to the Visayas region, where we are monitoring some former POGO workers going," he added.
PAOCC officials stated that they will hold a meeting on the implementation of Executive Order No. 74, which mandates a total ban on POGOs and internet gaming licenses.
"We will hold a meeting to discuss the implementation of EO-74. We will discuss with other agencies how to address these issues," he said.
Meanwhile, SEC Assistant Director Jonathan Paguirigan stated that they have coordinated with PAOCC regarding reports of POGOs renaming themselves as BPOs.
"Madam Chair, with the issuance of the executive order by the president, we are actually taking steps to ensure that those who are actually engaged in POGO activities are informed and comply with the executive order," Paguirigan said.
"They should only act as BPOs, Madam Chair, but if they are still engaged in POGO activities, then they are already violating the executive order," he added.
Meanwhile, Hale Oliver M. Labayo from the SEC's Corporation Registration and Monitoring Department stated that legally operating POGOs or those without criminal records before the ban can amend their registration documents to transform their companies into BPOs.
"Those legitimate POGOs, those that have not been revoked, they can still apply for amendments. They can become BPOs. We have issued the orders, and they will comply with the law," he said.
"If they violate as a BPO, there will be consequences. There will be revocation procedures, as they have not followed their primary purpose or other business purposes," he added.
