Palace maintains POGOs are considered BPO

Malacanang on Monday maintained that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) are a form of business process outsourcing (BPO), amid statements to the contrary, among them by the group of information technology-business process management companies.

"Hindi para sa kanila ang magsabi niyan kasi meron tayong sinusunod na depinisyon ng POGO sang-ayon sa mga guidelines lalo na dun sa mga nagbibigay ng tax incentives," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Unang Balita.

"Pag ikaw ay nagbibigay ng serbisyo para sa isang gawain na hindi naman nangyayari sa bansa natin, 'yan po ay BPO," he added.

The government last week announced the partial reopening of POGOs will be allowed even amid the enhanced community quarantine being implemented in the National Capital Region due to the COVID-9 health crisis.

Roque explained that POGOs, though based in the Philippines, cater to Chinese clienteles in China. "Dito lang 'yung mga computers, hardware and software," he said.

He also said the POGOs employ mostly Chinese nationals for communication purposes.

"Bakit maraming dayuhan? Kasi nga outsourced. Ang langugage na ginagamit nila sa computers ay Chinese, Mandarin, so walang Pilipinong makapagbibigay ng ganyang trabaho dahil hindi naman tayo marunong mag-Mandarin," Roque said.

Over the weekend, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said as far as the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) is concerned, POGOs can't be considered as BPOs.

“BPO companies are registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) or the Board of Investments (BOI), while POGOs are registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR),” it said.

The IT-BPM industry also emphasized that while BPOs and POGOs share one extraneous similarity, which is their offshoring nature, “POGOs primarily do so because they are allegedly unable to practice their betting or gambling functions in their respective shores.”

“It is also worth noting that the IT-enabled jobs BPO companies create are of much higher value, requiring a range of technical, domain, and soft skills,” said IBPAP. --KBK, GMA News