The House Committee of Public Order and Safety chaired by Sta. Rosa City Representative Dan Fernandez, in a joint hearing with the Committee on Games and Amusements chaired by Cavite Representative Antonio Ferrer, resumed their motu proprio inquiry into the proliferation of criminal activities and unlawful acts linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs.
At the opening of the third regular session on Monday, Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed that the House of Representatives will not cease its conduct of congressional investigations, zeroing in on illegal POGOs and illegal drugs.
“The House of Representatives will not cease its conduct of congressional investigations, zeroing in on illegal POGOs and illegal drugs.”
Moreover, in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the ban on POGOs effective by the end of this year. “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing,” Fernandez stated in his opening remarks, reminding the joint committee members of the President’s final quotes in the SONA.
Antipolo City Representative Romeo Acop and Abang Lingkod Party-list Representative Joseph Stephen Paduano focused on the legislative power of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) on the franchise authorization of POGOs, which is not explicit in both Republic Act 11590 and Executive Order No. 13.
Acop also noted the prevention of illegal POGOs from entering Export Processing Zones, such as in Cagayan, Apeco and Bataan.
