Benny Abante Jr., House Minority Leader, To File Bill Against POGOs In PH

House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. will file a bill against POGOs in the Philippines.

House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. announced on Monday that he will file a bill against Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the Philippines.

This, as House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. was about to file an “anti-POGO” bill in order to terminate the activities of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. The announcement came after the Philippine government allowed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators to partially resume its operations.

House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr.
House Minority Leader Benny Abante Jr. | Photo from GMA News Online

In his privilege speech during the continuation of the House sessions, he said that POGOs didn’t give any “tangible” and “impactful” benefits to the Philippines, adding that he was dismayed that the government forced to include POGOS as one of the business process outsourcing (BPO) that provide “essential services” amid the enhanced community quarantine.

Also, Abante said that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators have shown disrespect for Philippine laws, which was the same disregard for Chinese gambling laws that caused these Chinese gamblers to be forced out of their country. He added that POGOs were not the only solution as government efforts were already being made in order to increase funds as a response to the crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

As such, Abante said that the support for the immediate passage of his proposed bill, the Anti-POGO Act of 2020, was “earnestly requested”, adding that it was time to “say no to POGO”.

The proposal of the said bill came after Malacañang stated that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators were a form of Business Process Outsourcing even though the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines said that POGOs were not.

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