Alan Cayetano: Enforcing quarantine rules in POGO could be a problem

Enforcing quarantine measures in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) hubs could be a problem, House Speaker Alan Cayetano said Friday.

Cayetano made the comment on the day the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporations (Pagcor) announced the partial resumption of POGO operations amid the enhanced community quarantine due to COVID-19.

“I do not believe all POGOs are the same, but I agree with you enforcement is a problem,” Cayetano responded when asked on POGO hubs being confined in cramped housing units in a CNN Philippines interview.

“They should follow the [quarantine] rules, such as social distancing. There are rules, but enforcement is a different matter. Like if you allow religious gathering, and you have a small house church with 50 people, how do you deal with that? If the police came in, bigotry naman iyon, in violation of religious freedom,” Cayetano added.

Cayetano then said that POGOs belong to the gaming and BPO industry and, as such, should follow the quarantine rules set for both industries, including social distancing.

“May ECQ o wala, I am against POGOs eh. I don’t believe in gaming, gambling…iyong damage to morality and society is worse than that. Pero sa akin, kailangan pare-parehas rules para sa BPO sector, and everyone should follow the same rules,” Cayetano said.

“Walang palakasan,” Cayetano added.

Based on Anti-Money Laundering Council records, the net inflow of POGO is P7 billion or only 0.04 percent of the domestic economy.

Likewise, the Bureau of Internal Revenue data have also shown that only 10 out of the 60 POGO businesses pay taxes.—AOL, GMA News