POGOs are out, what about PIGOs?

Last Tuesday (July 22, 2025) was the first-year anniversary of President Marcos’ declaration (during his SONA) that POGOs (or Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) must be banned in the country.

- Fidel O. Abalos

Clearly, this was due then to a spate of kidnapping of Chinese nationals and a strong clamor from certain sectors and politicians on the miseries it brought to our countrymen.

Though, obviously, Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) lost a lot in regulatory fees and the BIR’s (Bureau of Internal Revenue) collection of franchise taxes dropped, what was more painful was the sight of hectares of vacant office spaces. Worse, the “office-adjacent economy” also took a hit as restaurants, coffee shops, etc. missed their patrons. Lots of rented houses, apartments and condo units also missed their tenants. Consequently, joblessness prevailed as the POGOs and the affected businesses no longer needed them.

While we haven’t fully recovered yet from economic downside of POGOs’ departure, the clamor for the PIGOs’ (or Philippine Inland Gaming Operators) demise is now on the rise. Well-thought-out or not, we do not know. What is certain is, if pushed through, we can again experience joblessness and drop in government revenues like PAGCOR’s regulatory fees, BIR’s franchise taxes and VAT and income taxes from businesses within the “office-adjacent economy” that shall be directly affected. So, what are PIGOs then?