Four lawmakers filed late Monday a resolution urging the House of Representatives to look into the operations of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), amid allegations that the booming business has led to the influx of unregistered foreign workers and government revenue losses as a result of nonpayment of income taxes to the government.
In House Resolution 337, lawmakers asked Congress to conduct an investigation on the allegations of unregistered foreign workers, nonpayment of income taxes relative to POGO, and the related issues on the effective implementation of Section 25, 1997 NIRC (National Internal Revenue Code), Immigration Rules and Regulations, and the Labor Code of the Philippines due to the unprecedented influx of foreign workers for the POGO Industry.
Authors of the resolution are Minority Leader Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., Deputy Speaker and Cibac Party-list Rep. Eduardo Villanueva, Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon and Manila Rep. Manuel Luis Lopez.
The lawmakers said an investigation is needed to study the amendments to current laws and to allow the government to effectively regulate the industry and to ensure that the government is able to properly collect revenues from its operations.
“The inquiry was long overdue given the numerous issues that have surfaced regarding the POGO industry,” Abante said.
“The fact that we cannot even accurately account for these workers is troubling. If we have problems with regard to their documentation, then we will definitely have issues properly determining revenue collection,” said Abante.
The lawmakers, citing Department of Labor and Employment figures, said there are 138,000 foreign workers in the Philippines, mostly Chinese nationals employed by POGOs. Of this 83,760 have special work permit, and 54,240 have alien employment permits, which as of date, has not been verified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Moreover, Abante said that aside from the revenue losses, he and other lawmakers were disturbed by reports that POGO hubs have been established in what Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana referred to as strategic locations.
Philippine defense installations near Chinese online casinos include Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, the Air Force headquarters in Pasay City, the Philippine Army headquarters in Taguig City, the Philippine Navy headquarters on Roxas Boulevard and Sangley Point in Cavite.
“What kind of possible threats do these POGO hubs near our defense installations represent? These and other concerns are what we want to address in an inquiry,” said Abante.
Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II said earlier this month that the Department of Finance (DOF) estimates around P2 billion worth of personal income taxes are not being collected from POGO workers on a monthly basis.
“Our estimate is that P2
billion a month is not being collected from personal income taxes and that is
why an interagency task force has been formed by the DOF in order to make sure
who is here in the country working in the sector,” Lambino said.