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Sam Beltran

Scam hubs linked to banned offshore gaming operators may become a permanent fixture in the Philippines, analysts have warned, if law enforcement fails to dismantle the networks fuelling their illicit activities completely.
The warning followed the recent arrest of 450 people, including five Chinese nationals said to be their bosses, at a suspected scam hub in Manila on February 20.
Investigations by the Philippine Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) revealed that the hub could have operated as a scam centre targeting victims in China and India with sports betting and investment schemes.
Of the 450 people arrested, 137 were Chinese nationals.
The goal here is to make the country ‘Pogo hub-free’ to halt all the social ills of immorality
Chester Cabalza, security analyst
Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, warned that these small-scale scam houses could “become a cottage industry in [Metro Manila] if not totally eradicated”.
“The goal here is to make the country ‘Pogo hub-free’ to halt all the social ills of immorality, human trafficking, prostitution and other crimes that exist under the establishment of Pogos, whether formal or informal, big or small,” Cabalza told This Week in Asia.
In July last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr banned Pogos in the country and directed the amusement and gaming agency (Pagcor) to cease operations by the end of 2024.
However, authorities have struggled to curb all Pogo-related operations, as raids now target alleged scams that have relocated from office buildings in major cities to less visible structures in provincial areas.

PAOCC chief Gilbert Cruz vowed that the government could eliminate all illegal Pogo-related activities by the end of the year.
“We can get rid of them all within the year, just slowly but surely. That is what we have been doing; we never stopped,” he said in a radio interview on February 16.
“Going after Pogos is new, that is why we needed a new executive order for this,” he said.
Cruz cited figures from the Bureau of Immigration, which stated that about 11,000 foreign Pogo workers remained in the country who could be engaged in illegal activities, since they did not transition to tourist visas or leave by December 31.
In January, immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said that more than 22,000 of nearly 34,000 Pogo employees under Pagcor had left the Philippines, adding that the agency had carried out an “intensified manhunt against these illegal aliens”.

Cruz also said in January that a few continued to operate covertly despite the ban, adding that a sudden influx of foreigners, as well as a surge of applications for internet connections in a concentrated area, could be “indicators” of smaller-scale operations.
Cabalza said the recent raid in Manila showed that the site “remains a remnant of China’s illegal dent” despite Marcos Jnr’s order for a total ban on online gaming.
China has repeatedly distanced itself from Pogos and said in a statement in July last year that it welcomed Marcos Jnr’s announcement that he would ban all Pogos, adding that the “Chinese government strictly cracks down on Chinese citizens engaging in overseas gambling businesses including Pogos, which breed serious crimes and gravely undermines the interests of both Philippine and Chinese peoples”.


Julio Amador, the founder and trustee of the non-profit policy advisory firm FACTS Asia, told This Week in Asia that the government could eliminate all traces of Pogo-linked crimes, but “it must be a continuing operation where law enforcement agencies cooperate more closely to monitor, gather intel, and deport those responsible”.
Amador said the Philippines’ recent exit from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, which indicated heightened monitoring of money-laundering and terrorism-funding activities, was “a reminder to the Philippines that reducing the amount of dirty money in circulation is crucial to economic security”.
Observers believed these entities could use “Pogo money” to collude with local government officials and support the electoral bids of candidates who would protect their activities.
Alice Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, was cited as an example, as her ties to a Pogo operation raised espionage suspicions.
“It is really possible that ‘Pogo money’ could be circulating to support candidates, given the Alice Guo example. It needs to be investigated,” Amador said.

Cabalza added that the ability to install elected officials such as Guo set a “precedent that some criminal syndicates are doing the same thing”.
“Dubious funding and maligned objectives, courtesy of Pogo money, do still exist in the country,” he said.
Analysts emphasised law enforcement’s key role in controlling illegal Pogos.
Amador said that passing a law banning Pogos was vital, adding that Marcos Jnr’s executive order “was a good start, but a law is important to hold those responsible for abetting Pogos accountable”.
“This is where effective law enforcement from the Philippine authorities should come in … the recent arrest is a reassertion of the tall order from the country’s commander-in-chief, and PAOCC must implement it properly,” Cabalza added.


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The Philippines

More Pogo raids in Philippines stoke fears about a ‘cottage industry’ of scam activities

Security officers stand guard at the gates of a closed online gambling building, the largest Pogo hub in the country, in the town of Kawit, Cavite province, Philippines, in December 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

One by one, new Chinese restaurants took over old Filipino-occupied commercial spaces in Tambo, Paranaque City, when an old shopping centre, Pearl Plaza, reopened in 2018 to become an offshore gambling office. Photo: Martin San Diego

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla places the closure sign at a Pogo hub inside the former Island Cove resort in Kawit, Cavite province on December 17, 2024. Photo: AFP

Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

China and Thailand join forces to tackle multibillion-dollar scam crisis in Myanmar

A man escorted by Thai soldiers ahead of flight to China. Photo: Khu Sam

Thai soldiers at Mae Sot airport ahead of transfer of alleged Chinese scam workers on February 20 to charter flight to China. Photo: Khu Sam

Saw Chit Thu, leader of the Karen Border Guard Force, speaks to reporters in Myawaddy, Myanmar, on February 17, 2025. Photo: Kyodo

Why closing Pogos won’t solve the Philippines’ China problems

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla places the closure sign on a Pogo hub in Cavite province on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Alice Guo, the former mayor of Bamban, attends a Philippine Senate hearing in September. Photo: Reuters

A view of the former Island Cove resort in Kawit, Cavite province, which housed a Pogo hub. Photo: AFP

The Philippines collected about US$92 million in revenue from the Pogo industry last year. Photo: Shutterstock

In Philippines, fears over national security as Pogos could continue ‘in stealth mode’

Security officers stand guard at the gates of a closed online gambling building, the largest Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) hub in the country, in the town of Kawit, Cavite province, the Philippines, on December 29, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla places the closure sign at a Pogo hub inside the former Island Cove resort in Kawit, Cavite province, on December 17, 2024. Photo: AFP

A police officer inspects a building at a closed Philippine Pogo hub inside the former Island Cove resort in Kawit, Cavite province, on December 17, 2024. Photo: AFP

Who are Philippines’ ‘Pogo personalities’? Figures tied to banned sector linger, critics warn

Philippines peso cash on a pile of playing cards in the casino. Photo: Shutterstock

Filipino Senator Risa Hontiveros has led an investigation into the massive online gambling and scam operations in the country. Photo: AP

Wan Kuok-koi, an alleged organised crime leader known as “Broken Tooth”. Photo: AFP

5 Chinese bosses among 450 arrested in Philippine scam farm raid

Philippine officials raid an office of a suspected online scam farm in Manila on January 31. Photo: AFP

This Week in Asia

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Economics

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Asia

Southeast Asia

Analysts warned that the Philippines might fester a “cottage industry” of crimes linked to offshore gaming operators if authorities cannot eradicate them entirely


Analysts warned that the Philippines might fester a “cottage industry” of crimes linked to offshore gaming operators if authorities cannot eradicate them entirely.


Scams and swindles

Chinese overseas

Human trafficking