Philippines bans online casinos linked to scam centres
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered the shutdown of a sprawling network of online casinos that have been linked to a slew of criminal activities.
Known locally as Pogos, short for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, these online casinos largely cater to players in mainland China, where gambling is illegal.
But they have also increasingly been found to have been used as a cover for illicit activities, from telephone scams to human trafficking.
They flourished under Mr Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who pushed for friendly ties with China during his term.
In his annual address to parliament on Monday, Mr Marcos called for the “desecration of our country [to] stop”.
“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Philippines’ gaming regulator said it would cancel the licenses of Pogos and wind down the sector by the end of the year.
The Pogo industry is made up of over 400 licensed and unlicensed outfits, employing 40,000 people directly and indirectly, according to government estimates.
The industry brings in an estimated 166.5bn pesos ($2.9bn; £2.2bn) of revenue a year, factoring in tax and gaming revenues – lower than its estimated economic costs of 266bn pesos annually.
