National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan has stated that the closure of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will have "very little" impact on the country's economic growth.
“Our estimates show that POGOs account for less than one-half of 1% of GDP (gross domestic product), or that's 0.23% of GDP, in 2023.” Balisacan was quoted by news media in the Philippines, while attending the 2025 budget deliberations at the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Philippines representative also added that POGOs accounted for “roughly 11 percent of office occupancy in the first half of 2024.”
“We do note that (the) real estate industry reports a high take-up of office spaces by government, various government agencies and that helped the situation in the real estate sector,” Balisacan said as he concluded.
“So all in all, there's very little impact of the cessation of POGO operations in the country.”
He also stressed about the “social and reputational risk” associated with POGOs, in which recent arrests prior to the ban found them having links to serious crimes.
Shortly after the nationwide POGO ban announcement, several representatives also voiced their support, with Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers urging the Philippines people to flush out illegal POGO workers in hiding; Deputy Speaker David Suarez also claimed that a number of SMS scams decreased drastically after the ban, and Senator Joel Villanueva seeking to repeal the law taxing POGOs.
