THE Senate opens Monday its investigation into the revenue viability and social costs of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) amid a mounting clamor to altogether ban the remaining such POGOs in the country.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, whose Ways and Means committee is in charge of helping senators assess the wisdom of letting POGOs continue despite reports linking some of them to violent crime, said the hearing was set on Monday, 1:30 pm, to give way to earlier budget hearings.
In an interview with DWIZ at the weekend, Gatchalian said officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Department of Finance, and even Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno were invited to Monday’s hearing, as well as corporations “that have conducted analysis” of POGO operations.
Senator Gatchalian said this was because he read reports that even leading real estate consultants like Leechiu Properties had earlier flagged the possible impact of banning POGOs on the property sector, which benefited from multibillion rentals of POGO entities. This, even during the pandemic, when POGO operations were among those hit.
But among those invited, Gatchalian indicated he is keen to hear from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda ) “kasi ang nakikita lang natin ang kita pero sa kabilang banda, yung krimen. Ano ba ang epekto ng krimen sa atin, [because we only see the profits from them, but there’s the other side, the crime, too. What’s the effect of the crime on us], both economic and reputation.”
He recalled that was clear in the earlier hearing presided by Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa that confirmed the so-called POGO-related crimes’ impact, that was why “we aim to continue whatever its effect on the economy.” He added, partly in Filipino, “let’s look at the benefits and the cost; what’s the effect on our country of having crimes happen here; and what’s the future of POGOs, i.e., where is this industry headed around the world, and in our own territory.”
Gatchalian clarified that “what we want is to attract business that is stable and brings good income, not crime…because if it brings crime,” it harms the country’s reputation as long as there are criminals operating here with impunity.
Finance chief Diokno earlier stirred a hornet’s nest when he signaled an inclination to push for abandonment of the POGO option as a revenue draw for a country seeking fiscal stability post-pandemic. Diokno said there is a real “reputational risk” for the Philippines in allowing POGOs if the recent spate of crimes—abductions, mostly—linked to POGOs will continue. He noted that even some neighboring countries like Cambodia had already decided to ban online gaming.
At the same time, Gatchalian indicated in the DWIZ interview there will be two committee reports arising from the Senate investigation: Dela Rosa is focused on peace and order, and he (Gatchalian) will follow it up with a separate report focused on views in “economic benefit or cost” and will also include inputs on the view of the business sector, adding, it was important to give priority to businesses that bring in money “without creating chaos.”
He pointed to the country’s top dollar earner, the business process outsourcing (BPO), which he noted, brings in money but does not bring crime. “We like businesses like this [BPO] that bring us dollars and jobs, but without the trouble,” he added, in Filipino.
The Senate investigation was triggered by three separate Senate resolutions filed by Gatchalian, Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, and Sen. Grace Poe.