Senate president Francis G. Escudero wants to see data on tax payments and ownership structure.
The Philippines.- Senate president Francis G. Escudero has said the government’s cost-benefit analysis of Philippine inland gaming operators (PIGOs) should use the same accounting the government used to asses offshore gaming operators before they were banned. He said he expects data on tax payments, ownership structure, government share and police reports on crimes committed by addicted gamblers.
On Tuesday (March 6), Claire Castro, undersecretary of the presidential communications office, said president Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. could impose a ban on PIGOs if they are found to be causing issues similar to those that led to the shutdown of offshore gaming operators.
Castro said the government was conducting studies to evaluate the effects of PIGOs and would make comparisons with the operations of offshore gaming operators. Castro said that “for now, the study shows that PIGOs have yet to cause or produce crimes” and emphasised that while offshore gaming operators typically hire foreign workers, PIGOs employ mostly Filipinos, with 90 per cent of their workforce being local.
