Even After the Ban, Offshore Gaming Has Not Gone Quiet in The Philippines

Philippine police escalate nationwide action aIllegal offshore gaming networks continue to operate in the Philippines more than a year after a nationwide shutdown order. That persistence has triggered a renewed response from the Philippine National Police, which has now instructed officers across the country to tighten enforcement and disrupt remaining operations.

Authorities say syndicates are no longer relying on large visible compounds. Instead, activity has fractured into smaller routes, offshore recruitment, and cross border movement.

Good to Know

• POGOs were ordered shut down by December 2024
• Police say illegal recruitment remains active
• Backdoor sea routes now sit at the center of enforcement

Police Shift Focus to Hidden Exit Routes

Rather than concentrating only on former gaming hubs, police are now watching travel corridors.

“I have already instructed concerned police offices to intensify patrols along backdoor routes that may be exploited by syndicates to continue their illegal POGO operations,” said Lieutenant General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr, acting PNP chief, in a statement Monday.

According to police intelligence, workers leave Palawan Island by sea toward Sabah in Borneo, then move across Malaysia before reaching destinations linked to scam operations.

“We are working with the intelligence community and our foreign counterparts in relation to this information,” Nartatez said.

A Once Legal Industry That Grew Too Fast

Offshore gaming first gained traction in the early 2000s, offering online casino games, sports betting, and lottery products to customers outside the Philippines. China drove much of the demand, given strict gambling bans at home.

Under former president Rodrigo Duterte, licensed POGO operations expanded rapidly. By 2023, the sector generated an estimated PHP35 billion, or about US$570 million, in direct and indirect economic activity.

Public support faded once authorities uncovered how many operations actually functioned.

Raids Changed the Political Direction

Police raids revealed many offshore gaming sites doubling as cyberfraud centers. Workers described being lured by high salary offers, then forced to run romance scams and crypto fraud schemes under threat and coercion.

Those revelations led President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to ban POGOs outright and order all licensed operations to close by the end of 2024.

Licenses were removed. Compounds shut down. Recruitment did not stop.

Recruitment Continues Beyond Philippine Borders

Investigators say syndicates now promise overseas work rather than local employment.

In one case cited by authorities, Filipino job seekers were offered $1,000 per month for work tied to POGO style operations in Cambodia. Victims later reported forced relocation to Phnom Penh and work as online romance scammers for about $300 per month.

Police believe similar tactics continue across Southeast Asia, with Myanmar and Cambodia acting as key destinations.

Prosecutions Move Up the Chain

Enforcement efforts now extend beyond operators to political and legal figures.

Last month, former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo received a life sentence after conviction for human trafficking connected to a POGO center. The case marked the first conviction under a qualified trafficking statute that targets individuals who organize and direct forced labor.

The Department of Justice has also offered a PHP1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Cassandra Li Ong, a central figure tied to the Lucky 99 South POGO compound in Pampanga. Ong is reportedly in Japan.

Authorities have also requested help from Interpol to locate Harry Roque, a former Duterte spokesperson who served as legal counsel for Lucky 99 South and Ong. Roque denies wrongdoing and has described the case as political persecution. He was last reported in Vienna while seeking asylum in the Netherlands.gainst illegal offshore gaming as banned POGO networks persist through backdoor routes.

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