Cayetano opposes reopening of POGOs amid COVID-19 pandemic

By JOHN CARLO M. CAHINHINAN

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has voiced his opposition to the offshore gaming industry following reports that Inter-Agency Task Force’s decision (IATF) has allowed the reopening of gaming hubs under the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) at one-third capacity starting this month.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Cayetano said he is not in favor of the resumption of POGO operations whether or not there is an enhanced community quarantine being imposed due to the current health crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Yes, whether or not may ECQ. Pareho kami Minority Leader (Bienvenido) Abante that we are not in favor of that industry, that’s something we have said (before),” said Cayetano.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chair Andrea Domingo told radio DZBB in an interview on Friday that the IATF has allowed the resumption of operations of POGO hubs that have fully paid their back taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

According to Domingo, the IATF also ensured those POGO hubs that all of their 120,000 Chinese employees that have working visas would be allowed to return to their work despite the fact the ECQ remains in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Regions 3 and 4A—areas where the vast majority of these gaming hubs under POGOs are located

For Cayetano, he’s “the best and worst person to ask” regarding POGO whether or not there is an ECQ or lockdown policy since he’s not in favor of gambling in general due to moral issues.

“Gambling eh… I think the damage to morality and society is worse than that. Pero sa akin, kailangan pare-parehas rules sa BPO (business processing outsource) sector, kailangan sumunod sila,” said Cayetano.

Cayetano noted that POGO hubs are under the BPO sector but under the gaming category since the PAGCOR gives them the license to operate.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)