PAGCOR to ban POGO hubs in latest effort to clean up Philippines offshore gaming industry

Speaking at a Senate inquiry into POGOs on Wednesday, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said that although he couldn’t guarantee that bad actors would no longer look to engage in illegal activities, the regulator would look to make such activities more difficult by banning hubs and increasing monitoring of the 43 companies that currently hold offshore gaming licenses – now known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs).

“We’re coming out with certain guidelines. We’re already banning hubs,” Tengco said, as reported by the Inquirer.

“In the meantime, there is no order for closure but I can inform everybody that we will not allow any hub existing or going to be applied for.  We will not approve it anymore because we want [IGLs] to be site specific and building specific.”

The concept of self-contained POGO hubs was introduced in 2019 under the previous PAGCOR regime, with the regulator stating at that time that such hubs would make POGOs easier to regulate while also limiting interactions between Chinese workers and local Filipinos.

However, the hubs themselves have become highly controversial following a series of raids amid reports of illegal activities, most recently at a hub in Pampanga last month said to be involved in human trafficking.

According to Tengco, PAGCOR will have round the clock teams monitoring its licensed IGLs.

“Hopefully that can deter, hopefully if we notice anything, we can immediately report it to the police, he said.

“But it’s difficult for me to say in this hall and in front of everyone here that this will be the last [incident] because if there is really a criminal intent, then I can no longer monitor it.”