Press Release
Committee Report No. 262 on Senate Bill No. 2232 (as delivered)
By Senator Pia S. Cayetano
Chairperson, Senate Committee on Ways and Means
Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, today, I rise to sponsor and seek your support for Senate Bill No. 2232, per Committee Report No. 262, which establishes the tax regime of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, otherwise known as POGOs.
These online gaming facilities have become a growing industry in the Philippines, generating additional revenues for the national government in the past year. According to the BIR, POGO collections in 2020 amounted to P7.18 billion, which is 11.71% higher than the P6.42 billion collection in 2019 of the same industry.
House of Representatives (MANILA BULLETIN File photo/Alvin Kasiban) These are the effective implementation of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE); a fiscally sustainable framework for military pensions; and a bevy of tax administration and enforcement measures, Salceda, the House panel’s chairman, said. “We are trying to avoid new taxes, unless they are for sectors that won’t get hurt by taxes, like POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) or e-sabong. Our focus now is really to secure the legacy of President Duterte’s tax reforms and to work on what we still can with the final year,” Salceda said in a statement.
The head of the Philippine casino regulator reportedly said in an online forum that three integrated resorts (IRs) in Manila had “started” online play for table games and slots.
The comments of Andrea Domingo (pictured in a file photo), the boss of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), reported by the Philippine Star newspaper, didn’t clarify if those games were purely digital or whether live streaming of live-dealer table games was involved, or whether such play was available only to domestic players or to overseas ones.
But it did directly quote her as saying Solaire Resort and Casino, run by Bloomberry Resorts Corp; Resorts World Manila, run by Travellers International Hotel Group Ltd; and Okada Manila, run by a unit of Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp, were all running “online table games and slot machines”.
Published April 29, 2021, 6:24 AM
Two Chinese workers of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and a Filipino were arrested for their involvement in the kidnapping of a Chinese Information Technology expert in Parañaque City.
Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao, Jr., director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the operation was conducted at dawn on Tuesday based on the complaint of the friends of victim Zhou Wen Hua who told the police that three people were holding their friend inside a car along Aseana Drive in Parañaque City.
NCRPO operatives then proceeded to the area but they were repeatedly shot by one of the suspects. The policemen then traded shots with the suspect until he was hit. The two other suspects were arrested.
POGOs are mainly catering to Chinese gamblers About half of the more than 60 online casinos in the Philippines have permanently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, affecting as many as 30,000 foreign workers, Bloomberg News cited Andrea Domingo, chairman of the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation as saying at a briefing on April 28. As a result, gaming revenue is forecast to drop to as low as 16 billion pesos ($329.9 million) this year from about 30 billion pesos in 2020 due to wide-ranging lockdowns in the country. Some operators of the online casinos, known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators,.
“POGOs” are mainly catering to Chinese gamblers
About half of the more than 60 online casinos in the Philippines have permanently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, affecting as many as 30,000 foreign workers,