Philippines Mulls Online Casino Ban as POGOs Evade Crackdown

Philippine lawmakers are pushing for a sweeping ban on online casinos as some Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) continue to defy the law. POGOs – offshore gambling companies mostly catering to foreign players – were officially outlawed in late 2024, yet several operators persist in running illicit online casinos in the country. This non-compliance has prompted calls for stronger action, with officials warning that only a total shutdown of online gambling will close loopholes and curb associated crimes.

Senator Hontiveros Urges a Total Online Gambling Ban

Senator Risa Hontiveros has been at the forefront of the campaign to end online gambling in the Philippines. This week she renewed her call for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to prohibit all forms of internet-based betting, echoing a proposal she made in 2024. Hontiveros argues that the government’s current efforts have fallen short and that bolder steps are needed to eliminate what she describes as a breeding ground for crime.

For context, POGOs were once a booming sector in the Philippines’ gaming industry. Starting around 2016, the country allowed offshore casino websites to operate locally (targeting players abroad, especially in China) and the sector thrived, attracting tens of thousands of foreign workers and sizable revenues. Under former President Rodrigo Duterte, POGOs were even encouraged as a source of jobs and investment. However, rising incidents of fraud, kidnapping, and other crimes linked to these operations sparked a backlash.

In response to mounting concerns – including reports of organized crime involvement and human trafficking in the POGO industry – President Marcos reversed course. In November 2024, he signed Executive Order No. 74 banning all offshore gambling operators and gave them until December 31, 2024 to shut down.

Marcos justified the ban by citing the extensive criminal activity surrounding POGOs, saying the social costs outweigh any economic benefit. His decision followed investigations that uncovered torture, illegal detention, and even espionage suspicions tied to POGO sites.

Lawmakers and the public largely welcomed the ban, hoping it would put an end to the “POGO era” and its accompanying crime wave.

Mixed Results from the POGO Crackdown

Despite the president’s hardline stance and the formal ban, cracking down on POGOs has yielded mixed results on the ground. Authorities did move swiftly to raid major POGO hubs and deport foreign workers in late 2024. In one high-profile raid in Pasay City, for example, over 400 foreign nationals working for an illegal POGO were arrested.

Overall, immigration officials report that about 22,600 foreign POGO workers left the country by the end-2024 deadline, and plans were made to deport an additional 11,200 who remained beyond that date.

Yet many operators found ways to evade capture and continue operating. According to the Bureau of Immigration, roughly 11,000 former POGO workers remain in the Philippines in early 2025. Instead of staying in known office hubs, these personnel have splintered into smaller groups and gone underground. “Many have split into smaller groups and relocated to condominiums and residential areas to evade arrest,” said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval.

While a few large POGO sites in Metro Manila were shut down, other groups quietly migrated to provinces with laxer enforcement or blended into urban neighborhoods.

Philippine authorities acknowledge the “whack-a-mole” challenge of stamping out these decentralized operations. Senator Hontiveros noted that the “POGO bosses, financiers, and employees, mostly Chinese nationals, [are] still in the country”, implying the kingpins behind the networks remain at large.

These ringleaders have simply adjusted their tactics – overseeing POGO activities that “morph into smaller, guerrilla-like operations,” Hontiveros warned. In other words, rather than openly running big call centers, the illicit casinos now operate covertly in a “guerilla” fashion, making enforcement even more difficult.

To make matters worse, some fugitive operators have continued running online casino platforms despite the ban, effectively thumbing their noses at authorities. This scenario – illegal gambling dens operating in the shadows – is exactly what lawmakers feared if the crackdown did not eliminate POGOs entirely.

Closing Loopholes and Calls for Further Action

Given these setbacks, Senator Hontiveros and her allies believe further legal action is needed to finish the job. They are especially concerned about loopholes in Executive Order 74 that savvy operators might exploit. The presidential order focused on offshore gaming firms but “excludes online games of chance conducted in PAGCOR-operated casinos, licensed casinos, and [those with] junket agreements,” Hontiveros pointed out.

In practice, this means that some forms of online or remote betting can still occur under the umbrella of PAGCOR (the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) – for instance, a Filipino land-based casino could accept online bets from VIP players through a junket arrangement.

Lawmakers worry that POGO groups could reinvent themselves to fit these exceptions. Hontiveros has warned the national gaming regulator, PAGCOR, “not [to] let these ‘reinvented POGOs’ find a space in casinos and those with junket agreements under its jurisdiction.”

They have come up with a new modus

The fear is that unscrupulous operators might partner with or pose as legitimate casino licensees, thereby continuing their online gambling activities under a legal cover. To prevent this, legislators are advocating a comprehensive ban in law (not just via executive order) that would outlaw all online gambling operations in the country without exception. A proposed “Anti-POGO Act” in Congress aims to permanently revoke all POGO licenses and ban any similar offshore gaming ventures in the future.

Beyond closing legal loopholes, authorities are broadening their fight against related crimes. The government recently alerted the public about new transnational scams tied to the gambling trade. In one scheme, Filipinos are lured with promises of free travel or jobs abroad, only to be kidnapped and forced to work in scam factories in neighboring countries.

“They have come up with a new modus,” Hontiveros said, describing how victims invited on supposed free trips to Thailand or Cambodia “ended up being forced to work in scam hubs” in those countries. These scam rings – often involving fake online romances, cryptocurrency fraud, or illegal gambling websites – have been linked to former POGO networks now operating offshore. The Philippine government’s warning underscores that the fight against POGOs is also a fight against human trafficking and cyber-fraud that transcend national borders.

PAGCOR Shuts Down Two Loss-Making Casinos

In a related development, the Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR has begun streamlining its own casino operations. Alejandro Tengco, PAGCOR’s chairman and CEO, announced the closure of two underperforming Casino Filipino branches as part of an agency “rationalization” plan. The casinos in question – one in Talisay, Cebu and another in Tagum, Davao del Norte – had been operating at a loss for years. Casino Filipino Cebu (Talisay) posted a ₱49.56 million net loss in 2024, while the Tagum branch lost about ₱36.93 million that year.

Tengco explained in a statement that:

Given the sustained financial strain, continuing operations at these sites is no longer feasible

The closures are aimed at cutting losses and possibly preparing these venues for privatization. PAGCOR has signaled plans to exit the casino management business and shift to a purely regulatory role over the next five years. The affected employees – 42 staff in Cebu and 33 in Tagum – will not lose their jobs but will be reassigned to other facilities. PAGCOR’s move to shutter loss-making casinos shows an effort to consolidate the industry and boost efficiency, even as the country’s overall gambling revenue has been climbing (PAGCOR reported record income in 2024 despite these losses).

Online Gambling Bans in Other Countries: Approaches and Effectiveness

The Philippines is not alone in grappling with the problems of online gambling. Several other countries have attempted similar bans or crackdowns, with varying degrees of success. A look at how other nations handled this issue provides insight into what a total ban might accomplish – and its limitations.

Cambodia: From Gambling Boom to Ban

Cambodia offers a cautionary example. Much like the Philippines, Cambodia in the 2010s became a hub for online casinos targeting Chinese players. The coastal city of Sihanoukville was overrun with Chinese-operated casinos that hosted online gambling, thanks to lax regulations and investment from China. By 2019, however, Cambodia’s government abruptly reversed its policy and banned all online gambling in the country.

This decision – encouraged by Chinese authorities – came after numerous crimes and social ills were linked to the casino boom. Prime Minister Hun Sen initially ordered a halt to new online gambling licenses and then made the ban permanent, stating that the industry had been used by foreign criminals to extort money.

The immediate impact of Cambodia’s ban was dramatic. In the months after the August 2019 announcement, dozens of casinos shut down and thousands of foreign workers fled the country. Sihanoukville, once teeming with gambling operations, saw the number of casinos drop by half (from over 70 down to 36 by early 2020).

More than 7,700 Cambodian locals lost their jobs as the online gambling business vanished.

Government officials acknowledged the ban would hit tax revenues – online gaming had contributed roughly a quarter of Cambodia’s $80 million annual casino tax haul. Nonetheless, the authorities pressed on, conducting nationwide inspections to ensure all casino companies had indeed scrapped their online platforms.

Cambodia’s crackdown largely succeeded in dismantling the open online casino industry within its borders. “When the online gambling was banned, [the foreign operators] went back to their country,” noted a Cambodian finance official, describing the exodus of Chinese casino bosses and workers. However, the ban did not completely eradicate related problems – instead, some illicit activities went further underground. Observers report that many empty casino buildings in Sihanoukville were later repurposed for other illegal enterprises such as scam call centers and human trafficking operations.

In partnership with China, Cambodian police have continued to raid and dismantle criminal networks that filled the void, including fraud rings and kidnapping operations. As of 2024, joint China-Cambodia efforts led to the repatriation of hundreds of Chinese suspects running illegal online scams after the gambling ban.

This shows that while a ban can shut down legal gambling venues, organized crime may adapt by shifting to new schemes. Cambodia’s experience underscores the need for persistent law enforcement even after a ban, as well as regional cooperation to prevent displaced operators from simply moving next door.

China: A Relentless Crackdown on Illegal Gambling

Mainland China has long outlawed all forms of casino gambling and online betting, and it employs a zero-tolerance approach to enforcement. Chinese authorities have aggressively targeted online gambling platforms that cater to Chinese users from abroad (including those formerly hosted by POGOs and in Cambodia). In recent years, China launched a years-long campaign to combat cross-border online gambling and telecom fraud. This campaign has seen an astonishing scale of arrests: since 2022, over 53,000 Chinese nationals have been arrested for involvement in overseas online gambling or scam centers.

China’s police frequently coordinate with neighboring countries to raid illicit operations and repatriate suspects. For example, in 2024 China worked with Myanmar to bust several large fraud hubs and with Cambodia to round up hundreds of suspects, flying many detainees back to China to face justice. Beijing has also leaned on foreign governments diplomatically to eliminate gambling havens that attract Chinese punters. The pressure China exerted was a major factor in Cambodia’s 2019 ban, and Chinese officials have praised the Philippines’ recent decision to ban POGOs.

Domestically, China employs the Great Firewall to block access to gambling websites and has criminalized the marketing of overseas gambling. Financial surveillance is used to choke off payment channels to offshore betting sites. These hardline measures have had some effect – many gambling networks have been disrupted – but the sheer demand among Chinese citizens means new illicit platforms constantly emerge.

The effectiveness of China’s relentless crackdown is mixed. On one hand, China’s approach has deterred some would-be operators and led to the capture of major syndicates. The high risk of harsh punishment (prison terms in China can be very long for gambling crimes) likely dissuades casual offenders. On the other hand, the lucrative allure of China’s vast gambling market means determined criminal groups find ways around the restrictions.

They relocate operations to jurisdictions with weaker enforcement, employ technology like encrypted apps, and continually evolve their schemes. As fast as China shuts down one operation, another pops up elsewhere in Southeast Asia or beyond. Chinese state media remain steadfast, vowing to “resolutely dismantle gambling and fraud dens” and “firmly curb” these crimes through ongoing international cooperation. The Chinese case illustrates that a ban must be accompanied by sustained, resource-intensive enforcement – and even then, complete eradication of online gambling is a challenging goal.

Other Asian Countries’ Experiences

Elsewhere in Asia, many countries maintain outright bans on online gambling and have encountered similar enforcement battles. Indonesia, for instance, prohibits all gambling and has adopted a tech-centric war on online betting. Indonesian authorities regularly block tens of thousands of gambling websites and apps every year. In just the first week of January 2025, Indonesia’s cyber police shut down over 43,000 online gambling-related pieces of content (from websites to social media pages) as part of a renewed push.

Over a recent 11-week span, they blocked more than 700,000 gambling sites or accounts after receiving public reports.

Despite these efforts, the demand for online gambling persists in Indonesia. An estimated 2.7 million Indonesians gamble online regularly, fueling an illegal market with a turnover of hundreds of trillions of rupiah yearly (tens of billions in USD).

This huge underground economy has led Indonesian officials to take drastic measures – including public service announcements calling online gambling a “scam” to deter citizens from participating. The Indonesian model shows that even with strict laws and advanced filtering of internet content, many users simply find workarounds (such as VPNs or mirror sites) to continue betting illicitly. Enforcement can become a perpetual cat-and-mouse game in the digital realm.

Thailand similarly bans nearly all gambling (aside from state lotteries and horse racing) and faces an uphill battle against illegal betting. Thai police frequently raid underground gambling dens and online betting rings, arresting hundreds of people at a time in crackdowns. In some cases, foreign syndicates have based their online casino operations in Thailand, leading to high-profile busts – for example, Thai cyber crime units recently took down a Taiwanese-run online gambling ring in Phuket.

The pervasiveness of illegal gambling in Thailand has even ensnared top officials: in 2023, Thailand’s national police chief was suspended amid allegations of involvement with online gambling networks, highlighting corruption challenges in enforcement. While Thai authorities continue raids and have even contemplated legalizing and regulating casinos to curb the black market, the country remains a hotspot for clandestine betting activity that is difficult to stamp out completely under a ban.

Vietnam has also taken a hard line against online gambling, which is illegal for its citizens. Police in Vietnam have busted several major online betting networks in recent years. Notably, in 2019 Vietnamese authorities dismantled a massive online gambling ring operated by nearly 400 Chinese nationals out of the port city of Hai Phong. This was Vietnam’s largest-ever foreign-run gambling bust, involving hundreds of illegal websites being run from a gated complex.

Vietnam has even seen cases of its own officials running gambling schemes – an infamous 2018 scandal involved high-ranking police officials facilitating a $420 million online betting ring, resulting in dozens of arrests and convictions. These examples show that even in a strict law-and-order state like Vietnam, online gambling can proliferate in the shadows, sometimes abetted by corrupt insiders. The government’s response has been to increase surveillance and punish offenders severely, which has broken up some networks but has not eliminated the underlying demand.

Overall, the experiences of these Asian countries demonstrate that banning online gambling is only the first step. The effectiveness of a ban greatly depends on enforcement capacity, cross-border cooperation, and addressing the root causes that make illegal gambling attractive. In many cases, cracking down drives the activity underground or to other jurisdictions, as seen with POGOs potentially moving to more permissive locales like Myanmar or small states.

Is there a “Right” Course of Action?

The Philippine government’s contemplation of a total online casino ban reflects a growing regional trend of clamping down on internet gambling to combat crime. The country’s initial crackdown on POGOs has made a dent – large operations have been raided and thousands of foreign workers removed – but it also highlights how determined operators can evade the law through loopholes and stealth. Lawmakers like Senator Hontiveros are insisting that only a comprehensive, no-exceptions ban backed by vigilant enforcement will stop the POGO menace and prevent it from resurrecting under new guises.

If the Philippines proceeds with a blanket online gambling prohibition, it will join nations like Cambodia in taking an aggressive stance despite economic trade-offs.

Experiences in other countries suggest that such bans can yield quick wins – visible shutdowns of illicit businesses and a message of zero tolerance – but also come with challenges. Illegal gambling may not disappear overnight; instead, it can become a cat-and-mouse pursuit as operations adapt or relocate. The Philippine case, much like others, underscores the need for sustained commitment: from closing legal loopholes and strengthening law enforcement, to cooperating with neighboring countries to tackle transnational gambling syndicates.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of an online gambling ban will be measured by whether it truly curbs the associated crimes and social harms in the long run, or simply disperses them out of sight. The government’s resolve – along with regional partnerships – will determine if the Philippines can avoid the pitfalls others have faced and finally put an end to the era of rogue offshore casinos on its soil.