The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has published a warning regarding the circulation of a fake memorandum allegedly ordering local government units to immediately shut down POGOs “within the first week of August.”
Atty. Jessa Mariz Fernandez, Head of PAGCOR’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, said the alleged fake memo was “a forged version of an earlier memorandum she issued 0n 23 July, a day after the President’s State of the Nation Address.
“We have not issued a memorandum ordering LGUs to immediately close down POGO operations in their jurisdiction because the President’s order is very clear: We have until the end of the year to wind down POGO operations, and we will follow that.
“We reiterate, and we advise our LGUs, that licensed IGLs can continue operating until we have determined the process of winding down their operations, which we currently have not yet finalised.”
The POGO ban was announced by President Ferdinand Marcos in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week.
During his speech, President Marcos Jr. has instructed PAGCOR to “wind down and cease the operations of POGOs by the end of the year.”
The ban has, understandably, received mixed reaction, as some senators have voiced concerns over potential revenue loss, and the possibility of the ban making it harder to track and monitor existing POGOs in the future.
