Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a ban on all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or POGOs, in his annual State of the Nation address on July 22, 2024. The announcement drew loud applause and a standing ovation from the joint session of Congress1. Marcos said the ban would take effect immediately, but gave the country's gaming agency until the end of the year to wind down these operations1.
"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. The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop."
"Effective today, all POGOs are banned."
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. POGOs have been present in the Philippines for around two decades and proliferated under former president Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022)1.
There are now an estimated 400 POGOs across the Philippines, many based in high-rise apartment blocks in Manila and other large cities. At its height, POGOs employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, and these operations are believed to employ as many as 25,000 Filipinos1. PAGCOR, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, is expected to receive 24.5 billion pesos ($417 million) in POGO fees and taxes this year1. PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco told Reuters there are between 250 and 300 illegal POGOs operating in the country, compared with 46 officially licensed operations1.
The ban follows an ongoing Senate investigation into POGOs and their links to organized crime, centered on Alice Guo, the mayor of Bamban in Tarlac province. In February and March, authorities raided two POGOs operating on a Bamban property allegedly owned by a company belonging to Guo. The March raid resulted in the arrest of nine individuals involved in scam-related activities and illegal human detention and rescued more than 800 victims of human trafficking1. Senator Risa Hontiveros has presented documents alleging Guo is a Chinese national named Guo Huaping who faked her identity as a Filipino. Guo has denied wrongdoing, was suspended from her post and had her financial assets ordered frozen, and has since disappeared. Senate President Francis Escudero signed warrants for the arrest of Guo and several family members for snubbing the Senate POGO inquiry1.
Beijing has urged the Philippines to institute a total ban on POGOs, highlighting their links to criminal activities. The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement calling on the Philippines "to ban POGO at an early date so as to root out this social ill"1. Around the same time, Philippine authorities announced a crackdown on illegal POGOs1.
What it means for players
The ban targets operators serving customers outside the Philippines, not domestic gambling. POGOs by definition took bets only from customers based outside the country, so the immediate effect falls on offshore-facing operations rather than on land-based casinos or domestic online betting, which are regulated separately. The status of those domestic channels is not addressed in the announcement as reported1.
For the roughly 25,000 Filipinos believed to be employed by POGOs, Marcos said he would work with the Department of Labor and Employment to help former POGO workers find alternative employment1. The number of Chinese nationals employed in the industry is unknown1.
The scale of illegal operations, estimated at 250 to 300 against 46 licensed ones, means unlicensed sites may continue to operate after the licensed ones close. Players using any offshore platform face the same risks of scam-linked operations described in the Senate investigation, including detention and trafficking cases uncovered in Bamban1.
What happens next
Marcos gave the country's gaming agency until the end of the year to wind down POGO operations1. The Senate hearings will continue; Hontiveros said they "will continue to demand accountability" and that the Senate will work to strengthen policies to prevent similar industries from emerging again1. Warrants remain outstanding for Alice Guo and several family members1.
