MANILA: The Philippine government is at the losing end due to the continued operation of the controversial Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country.
Senator Imee R. Marcos, chairman of the Senate economic affairs committee, said POGO has given to the country P7 billion in taxes but the government is losing about P54 billion more in other taxes, including franchise fees, collectible by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporations (PAGCOR).
The loss of billions of pesos in taxes and the concomitant criminal activities such as prostitution and kidnapping had prompted senators to press Malacanang to suspend or stop the operations of POGO because their contributions to the national economy is minimal.
But Malacanang announced that it was not suspending POGO operations.
‘’Why can’t Pagcor collect taxes? Are payments done under the table? Filipinos are not being hired. Only the rich have offices or condominiums,” she said.
These POGO operations have triggered corruption at Pagcor, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLA) at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Philippine National Police (PNP). There is prostitution, money laundering, kidnapping, murder and other criminal activities have social costs, Marcos said.
‘’Why are the AMLC, Pagcor, Bi and BoC fearful? If we stop it, nobody can meddle.
‘’Now, China is against us for allowing POGOs to operate and has asked us several times to stop POGO operations. There are reports in Binondo that China has destroyed the passports of its citizens returning from the Philippines.
‘’If China can invalidate its Chinese passports, do we have the resources to arrest thousands of Chinese staying In the country?’’ She asked.
