Philippine authorities raided two Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) on a property in Bamban, Tarlac province, in February and March 2024, on land allegedly owned by a company belonging to Bamban mayor Alice Guo. The March raid resulted in the arrest of nine individuals involved in scam-related activities and illegal human detention, and the rescue of more than 800 victims of human trafficking1.
The raids formed part of an ongoing Senate investigation into POGOs and their links to organized crime, centered on Guo's identity and activities1. The lead investigator, Senator Risa Hontiveros, presented documents alleging that Guo is a Chinese national named Guo Huaping who faked her identity as a Filipino. Guo has denied any wrongdoing but has been suspended from her post and had her financial assets ordered frozen. She has since disappeared. Senate President Francis Escudero signed warrants for the arrest of Guo and several members of her family for snubbing the Senate POGO inquiry1.
The scale of the Bamban case fed a broader reckoning with the industry. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his annual State of the Nation address that POGO operations had moved into crimes far removed from gaming.
"Disguising as legitimate entities, [POGO] operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder."
Marcos said the ban would take effect immediately, adding, "Effective today, all POGOs are banned," while giving the country's gaming agency until the end of the year to wind down operations1. A POGO is a business entity that offers online games, takes bets and pays winning players, but only to customers based outside the Philippines. In practice, most are run by Chinese nationals and serve customers in mainland China, where gambling is banned outside Macao1.
By the numbers reported at the time:
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Arrests in March raid | 9 |
| Trafficking victims rescued | More than 800 |
| Estimated POGOs nationwide | About 400 |
| Officially licensed operations | 46 |
| Illegal POGOs (PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco) | 250 to 300 |
| Filipinos employed by POGOs | As many as 25,000 |
| Chinese workers at the industry's height | More than 300,000 |
| POGO fees and taxes expected by PAGCOR in 2024 | 24.5 billion pesos ($417 million) |
Source: The Diplomat1
Beijing has urged the Philippines to institute a total ban on POGOs, highlighting their links to criminal activities. The Chinese Embassy in Manila called on the Philippines "to ban POGO at an early date so as to root out this social ill"1.
What it means for players
The raids and the subsequent ban target offshore operators serving customers outside the Philippines, not domestic land-based gambling, which is regulated separately. For players in mainland China, where gambling is banned outside Macao, the POGO sites that served them are the ones being shut down, and the criminal cases described involve scam operations and detention rather than ordinary betting disputes. For locals and expats in the Philippines, the practical effect falls on the offshore gaming sector and its workforce, with Marcos vowing to work with the Department of Labor and Employment to help former POGO workers find alternative employment1. Visitors should note that the enforcement action described here concerns unlicensed and offshore operations; the status of any individual operator is not set out in the reporting.
What happens next
Marcos gave the country's gaming agency until the end of the year to wind down POGO operations1. The Senate hearings into POGOs and Guo are set to continue, with Hontiveros saying they "will continue to demand accountability"1. Arrest warrants have been signed for Guo and several family members1. Her whereabouts have not been reported.
For background on the sector and its shutdown, see The Philippines' Ban on Offshore Gaming (POGOs) and Can I Gamble in the Philippines?. For reporting channels and warning signs of scam operations, see Gambling Scams and Safety in Asia. For the mainland market that most POGOs served, see Can I Gamble in China?.
