PAGCOR Forms Interagency Council to Combat Illegal Online Gambling

PAGCOR and four government departments form an interagency council to tackle the unauthorized provision of online gambling services

The Philippines’ gambling regulator, PAGCOR, has assembled an interagency task force to step up its fight against illegal online gambling. The move comes after the regulatory body announced late last year that it would ramp up efforts to purge the local gambling market from unlicensed operations.

PAGCOR and four government agencies signed a mutual cooperation agreement to intensify the nation’s campaign against the unauthorized provision of gambling services.

The Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Department of Justice along with PAGCOR have formed an interagency council that will be tasked with cracking down on unlicensed online gambling activities, particularly offshore ones.

PAGCOR Chair and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Domingo said that there are 57 licensed online gambling companies in the Philippines, and that the new interagency council’s goal will be to clamp down on all other operators.

Ms. Domingo said that one of the big issues obstructing the fight against illegal operations was the fact that staff at foreign offshore gambling operators could not be deported immediately. Bureau of Immigration Chief Jaime Morente explained that if a foreign citizen was found guilty, they should serve prison time before their eventual deportation.

Efforts to Tackle Illegal Online Gambling

The members of the new interagency council will be sharing and gathering together information on how to combat illegal gambling. They will also provide manpower and will jointly implement investigation procedures that will help in discovering unlicensed operations.

Digital forensic examination, validation of gaming licenses, visa verification of foreign nationals employed at online gambling businesses, and filing charges against violators of Philippine gambling laws will all be part of the procedures that members of the council will be conducting.

Under the mutual cooperation agreement, PAGCOR will provide funds for different activities and projects aimed at curbing unauthorized gambling operations.

The Philippine gambling regulator said in a Thursday statement that it has seen a significant surge in revenue since the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) licensing system was introduced in 2016 and PAGCOR’s authority over offshore operations was extended.

According to the statement, POGO license holders generated PHP657 million in 2016, PHP3.9 billion in 2017, and PHP7.4 billion in 2018. Generally speaking, POGO licenses authorize their holders to provide offshore online gambling services from within the Philippines. However, these services cannot target customers that are located on the territory of the country.

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