PAGCOR disproves 'memo' ordering POGOs to close shop as early as August

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) disowned a supposed document it issued ordering Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) to close shop as early as August.

In a statement on Saturday, PAGCOR said the document was a forged version of a memorandum issued a day after the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

PAGCOR’s head of Offshore Gaming Licensing Department Atty. Jessa Mariz Fernandez said the document, dated July 26, ordering local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila to immediately ban POGOs in their areas, was a manipulated version of an earlier memorandum she issued on July 23.

The fake memo was telling some LGUs in Metro Manila to terminate POGO operations “within the first week of August.''

“This is clear disinformation intended to create chaos and confusion,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the spurious memorandum used her earlier letter to Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) and service providers on July 23 advising them that, “pending finalization of the details and process of winding down, operations may remain in the status quo,'' referring to the President’s order to close down POGOs during his SONA on July 22.

“We have not issued a memorandum ordering LGUs to immediately close down POGO operations in their jurisdiction because the President’s order is very clear: We have until the end of the year to wind down POGO operations, and we will follow that,” Fernandez said.

“We reiterate, and we advise our LGUs, that licensed IGLs can continue operating until we have determined the process of winding down their operations, which we currently have not yet finalized.''

“Whoever is behind this clearly has ulterior motives, and we shall ask the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate and unmask them to determine their motives,” she added.

PAGCOR has appealed to spare 12 POGOs out of 43 from the nationwide ban, saying they are merely customer service agents for gaming companies. —VBL, GMA Integrated News