PAOCC aims to eliminate POGOs by the end of the year
The Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission has announced plans to target and eliminate illegal POGOs by the end of the year.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. banned all Philippine offshore gaming operators in July with immediate effect. Existing POGOs were given until January 1 to close down, however some sites continue to operate in the country.
According to Philippine News Agency, on Saturday in Quezon City Undersecretary of the Commission Gilbert Cruz said, “We are hoping that within the year at least, we will be able to totally stop or at least reduce on a maximum scale this operation of illegal POGOs in our country. They know we are intensifying our drive against them, but they continue their business because POGO earnings here are big.”
According to Cruz, there are more than a hundred illegal gambling operations within the country.
These illegal gambling operations are often based in apartments, condominiums, and hotel rooms throughout the country and involve the trafficking of foreign nationals.
Recent raids by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission against POGOs have rescued Indonesian, Chinese, and Malaysian nationals who say they were coerced into working in fraudulent operations.
The Philippines has been cracking down on several forms of gambling-related crime in 2025, with former mayor Alice Guo, among 31 others, facing 62 money laundering charges in connection with POGOs.
Despite the crackdown on illegal operators, the region operates a legal remote gaming industry, informally known as PIGO (Philippines Inshore Gaming Operators). Light & Wonder opened an office in the Clark Freeport Zone at the start of February.
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