Koko on declaring POGOs as nat'l security threat: We don't need to go that far

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III is not keen on supporting the call for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to declare Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) a national security threat.

"We don’t even need to go that far and involve national security," Pimentel said in a Viber message to reporters.

Pimentel said that POGOs should be banned on the ground that it is against the country's national interest.

"Hosting POGOs within Philippine territory to target foreign nationals to gamble online against their own domestic laws is simply bad and wrong policy. It is as simple as that," he said.

"There is no need to complicate this matter of the POGOs. They should be banned as a matter of public policy for being against our national interest," he added.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros earlier made the proposal following an executive session by the Senate Committee Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality with various government agencies.

She said the basis to declare POGO as a national security threat has become stronger as more information regarding the crimes related to the raided POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac were disclosed during the closed-door meeting.

In one of the previous hearings, Hontiveros said the POGO hub in Bamban may be possibly involved in surveillance activities and even the hacking of several government websites.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who was present during the closed-door briefing, joined Hontiveros in making the call, noting that all the intelligence and law enforcement agencies that attended the executive session, except the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), agreed that POGOs were a national security threat.

"'Yun rin 'yung aking suggestion sa National Security Council na i-akyat na ito sa presidente, sa ating pangulo dahil ang chairman ng ating National Security Council ay ang ating pangulo at i-elevate na ito to a national security threat dahil nga lumalawak ang kanilang galamay," Gatchalian said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday.

(I also suggested that the National Security Council bring this matter to the attention of the president since he is the chairman of the NSC. POGOs should be elevated as a national security threat because of their growing influence.)

Gatchalian said the NSC should issue a resolution that bans POGOs because of national security issues.

In the early part of the forum, Gatchalian expressed alarm over the report divulged by intelligence agencies during the executive session in the Senate that the Chinese criminal sydicates behind the POGO operations in Bamban are already working with local criminals, law enforcers, and even local politicians.

"Hindi na siya ordinaryong kriminal e na pumasok lang dito at mahuhuli natin. Lumalawak na 'yung kanyang galamay at ang kinakatukan ko baka umabot sa punto na hindi na natin makokontrol itong mga ito. Sila na ang kokontrol sa gobyerno natin kasi may mga tao na silang binabayaran," he said.

(This is not your typical criminal that gets apprehended here. They are becoming more and more influential, and I worry that eventually we won't be able to stop them. Because they have paid people, they may have control over the government.) —KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News