PH’S BIGGEST POGO FACILITY SHUT DOWN

AUTHORITIES on Tuesday padlocked the biggest offshore gaming hub in the country located at the former Island Cove Resort in Kawit, Cavite.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, along with Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director Under Secretary Gilbert Cruz, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chairperson Alejandro Tengco and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbi,  led the formal closure of the facility.

The Remulla family was the former owner of the resort but sold it to a real estate developer in 2017.

The facility then started operations as a POGO hub in 2019.

“As promised, we visited the area by December to see that everything is closed. We will follow the President’s (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) directive that all POGOs must be closed. Per the local government unit administrator, they inspected the facility on the last week of November and there are no more operations here,” Remulla told reporters during the ceremonial closure of the POGO compound.

According to the DILG secretary, there is no more power supply in the buildings nor signs of business activities since November.

The POGO facility that sits on the 33-hectare property is the biggest in the country, with 30,000 employees, half of whom were Filipinos.

The compound consists of 57 buildings, including employee dormitories, gaming hubs, cafés, groceries, clinic, restaurants, spas and beauty salons.

Cruz said they have monitored around 100 guerilla POGO operations throughout the country and they are working with the PNP to find them.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in November signed Executive Order (EO) 74 banning all POGO operations in the country.

Under E0 74, Philippine offshore gaming, internet gaming and other offshore gaming operations in the country must cease operations by December 31, 2024.