Why were POGOs banned?
POGOs had been a hub for organised crime for a long time before they were regulated by President Rodrigo Duterte. Despite hopes that they would go straight once the licensing system was introduced, with each subsequent police raid on hubs, it became obvious that this hope was futile. As news of the crimes committed at these properties began to spread, the Philippines was under increasing pressure from neighbouring countries to take action. At the request of the Indonesian Embassy, the POGO hub at Lapu-Lapu City was raided and 162 foreign nationals were rescued, including several children. When the Pasay hubs were raided, authorities found “aquarium” viewing areas inside for trafficked women and other equally distressing rooms. As the crimes continued to mount up, it’s no surprise that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pulled the plug on 22 July 2024 when he introduced the ban.
What has happened since?
POGOs have been a staple part of the Philippines’ gambling ecosystem for a very long time. At their peak, there were around 40,000 POGO employees registered under PAGCOR, so it was going to be no easy feat to stamp them out of the country. Since the ban, there have been dozens of raids, arrests and even job fairs. We’ll present a round-up of the biggest events since then.
Alice Guo
When POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga were raided last spring by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Group (PAOCC), more than 1,600 employees were rescued, including hundreds of foreign workers. Land deeds, vehicles and electricity bills on the compound were linked to Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who was arrested and charged with a long list of offences, including multiple counts of human trafficking and money laundering. She has also been linked to the largest money-laundering case in Singapore’s history, totaling S$3bn (US$2.24bn) in assets. While Guo initially claimed she would run for re-election as mayor, she has since retracted this. The trial is still ongoing – and Guo is denying all allegations against her.
Island Cove
Amid all of the police raids, PAGCOR set a strong precedent in December 2024 by sending Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco to shut down Island Cove, Cavite in person. This hub was one of the largest of its kind in the Philippines, stretching across 57 buildings on 33 hectares and supporting a community of over 30,000 people. As well as POGO-related office space, the hub also included peripheral businesses such as employee dormitories, gaming hubs, cafés, grocery stores, clinics, restaurants, spas and beauty salons.
Rodrigo Duterte
It is generally accepted that POGOs first started appearing in the Philippines in 2003, but they gained unprecedented traction in 2016 when then-President Rodrigo Duterte licensed them for online gambling. Despite criticism from other countries, including China, Duterte continued to defend the decision, citing the job opportunities and increased revenue that offshore gambling operations offered the country. By 2019, PAGCOR had licensed 300 POGOs and collected around PHP14.44bn ($250m) in taxes from them, but this boom wouldn’t last long. As with many industries, the global pandemic would take its toll on POGOs and when Duterte’s Presidency ended in 2022, they lost their biggest supporter. They would remain in a political grey area until 2024, when they were ultimately banned. Any remaining support or nostalgia for the offshore operations was quietly quashed when Duterte was arrested and extradited to The Hague on 11 March 2025. According to the International Criminal Court, he faces charges of crimes against humanity.
Job fairs
Amid all of the police investigations and international courts, there is one glimmer of hope in the Philippines in the wake of the POGO bans. The Philippines’ Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been holding regular job fairs for displaced Internet Gambling Licensee (IGL) workers. Half a dozen of these job fairs have been held in major cities across the country, including Parañaque City, Makati City, Cavite province and Pasay City, with over 3,000 vacancies available. Hundreds of workers were hired on the spot. Although this represents only a small percentage of the 40,000 estimated displaced workers, many of the ex-POGO employees are reportedly hesitant to accept entry-level positions and are instead trying to find similar work in the IT-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector.
PAGCOR revenue
With PAGCOR set to lose billions in revenue from POGOs each year, there was some concern that the ban wouldn’t be upheld permanently. However, the latest reports from the regulator show that despite the ban, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) actually rose 25% annually to PHP410bn in 2024. While Tengco attributed this strong performance to “strategic policy adjustments that we have implemented, such as the gradual reduction of fee rates for e-games since 2023”, the most important financial results are still yet to come. 2025 is the first year without regulated or taxed POGO operations, and as Tengco concluded himself, “the best days of Philippine gaming are still ahead of us, and we look forward to working with all of you to shape what comes next.”
What will 2025 bring?
The current POGO ecosystem seems pretty clear: The offshore gaming operations are illegal, but they make a lot of money; so for the moment, it seems it will be a game of cat and mouse between the larger, more obvious operations and the authorities until they are pushed completely underground. Even then, accidents can happen. A recent police raid in pursuit of a robbery suspect in Makati inadvertently uncovered a POGO hub operating on the 21st floor of Yuchengco Tower in the RCBC Plaza on Ayala Avenue in Manila – one of the most recognisable complexes in the country, which also housed the Irish, Australian, South African and Canadian embassies. While we will see continued raids against POGO hubs, as long as the ban holds, these will no doubt decrease in time as the Philippines continues to focus on a regulated and legal casino ecosystem.
