By Leonel Abasola | Philippine News Agency
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday pushed for a higher intelligence fund for the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid an ongoing campaign to ferret out Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) that continue to defy the government’s ban on their operations.
“The PNP needs funds to gather intelligence, particularly in the fight against POGOs,” Gatchalian said in a news release on Monday.
He said some POGOs are going underground and are masquerading as other businesses.
“This is the time to support the PNP in gathering more intelligence,” he added.
Gatchalian noted that the PNP’s intelligence fund has gone down from P1.356 billion in 2023 to P906.025 million this year.
Under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025, the PNP was given an intelligence fund of PHP806.025 million, which was increased by PHP100 million by the Senate.
“The reduction is counter-intuitive on what we want to do,” he said.
Given the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to terminate all POGO operations in the country by the end of the year, law enforcement agencies such as the PNP need to double their efforts to flush out all POGOs, particularly those that are involved in illegal activities such as kidnap-for-ransom, human trafficking, and online scamming.
Gatchalian said the total number of victims of POGO-related crimes stood at 5,800 as of May this year, based on data provided by the PNP.
He pointed out that Section 4 of Executive Order No. 74 issued by the President last Nov. 5 directed the PNP to intensify their efforts against illegal POGOs and internet gaming licensees and other offshore gaming operations and services.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means has led the campaign to end all POGO operations in the country.
He has maintained that the social costs of allowing POGO operations in the country significantly outweighed any economic benefits derived from the industry’s POGO operations.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla on Monday said there is no undue haste in the handling of the cases of foreign nationals detained after a raid on a Bataan company allegedly engaged in unauthorized online gambling operations.
“We have to follow due process. Siyempre, (Of course), our desire is to deport, but we have to follow due process,” Remulla said.
In a memorandum dated Nov. 12, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin instructed the DOJ and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to facilitate the deportation.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission on Oct. 31 raided Central One, an illegal POGO masquerading as a business process outsourcing (BPO) operating in Centro Park, Barangay Parang in Bagac, Bataan, resulting in the arrest of 42 foreign nationals. (with report from Benjamin Pulta)