When Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) in 2024 and ordered their departure from the country before the end of that year, the goal was clear: to end an industry that had become a front for organized crime. However, more than a year later, the consequences of that era continue to emerge strongly in the courts, in agricultural fields, and in anti-drug operations.
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Land theft in Bataan: the new angle of the POGO scandal
The National Capital Region Division of the National Bureau of Investigation of the Philippines (NBI-NCR) announced that it is investigating the alleged illegal transfer of rural plots in the province of Bataan to a company linked to POGOs.
According to the affected farmers, the lands were allegedly transferred fraudulently, without the authorization of the Department of Agrarian Reform, to a holding company associated with Harry Roque, a lawyer and former spokesperson for former President Rodrigo Duterte, who presented himself publicly as a human rights defender.
Last year, Roque was formally charged with aggravated human trafficking in the context of a POGO operation in Pampanga. Shortly after, he fled the country and is reportedly currently residing in Austria.
The NBI-NCR noted that preliminary information points to the possible falsification of documents in the transfers, which raises serious doubts about the validity and legality of the process.
How POGOs were born and fell
POGOs were legalized in 2016 during the Duterte administration, with the argument that they represented a relevant source of income for the State. Indeed, in 2023 they contributed the equivalent of $86 million dollars to the treasury, with projections of nearly $117 million for 2024.
However, the industry began to crumble when a series of raids on various POGO operations revealed evidence of large-scale criminal activities. In his 2024 State of the Nation address, Marcos listed the documented crimes: financial and crypto scams, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnappings, torture, and murders.
“Disguised as legitimate entities, these operations ventured into illicit areas completely unrelated to gambling,” the president stated, before ordering the closure of all POGOs, with or without a license, before the end of the year.
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In October 2024, while the industry was supposedly in the process of closing, police raided Central One Bataan Inc., a business process outsourcing company that allegedly operated as a front for a POGO without being registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). The company denied the allegations.
The connection with drug trafficking: Chinese citizens at the head of the cartels
On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla revealed in a press conference that Chinese citizens linked to POGOs led most of the drug cartels active in the country.
“Those POGOs became a plague for the country,” Remulla declared. “Everything illegal between 2016 and 2025, and until today, we are paying for as a consequence of those POGOs. Almost all the cartels we have caught here are led by Chinese citizens who used visas linked to POGOs.”
In the same event, Remulla accompanied law enforcement representatives in Trece Martires City for the destruction of illegal drugs valued at the equivalent of $764 million dollars, confiscated during investigations in just the last six months, a figure that illustrates the magnitude of the problem inherited from the POGO era.
A country still paying the price for an out-of-control industry
The Philippine case offers a global warning about the risks of legalizing offshore gambling operations without robust regulatory frameworks and real oversight capacity. What began as a bet to collect foreign currency ended up being a gateway for transnational organized crime.
The investigation into the land theft in Bataan, the ongoing criminal proceedings, and the anti-drug operations that continue to dismantle networks linked to POGOs are evidence that the formal closure of an industry does not immediately erase its consequences. The country now faces the task of dismantling, case by case, the criminal network that was built under the protection of gambling licenses.
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