Repurposing the seized POGO hubs

COMMONSENSE

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

An inter-agency task force led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is evaluating proposals to repurpose the sprawling land and building assets earlier seized from illegal Philippine online gaming operators (POGOs). The PAOCC, chaired by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, received such proposals to transform for government use these POGO hubs that were shut down in Bamban, Tarlac and in Porac, Pampanga. PAOCC executive director, retired Police General Gilbert Cruz, disclosed at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday.

Cruz revealed the proposals to repurpose the land and buildings seized this year from the two biggest POGO scamming hubs in Tarlac and Porac are seriously being considered by the PAOCC Board for approval. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), one of the members of the 47-inter-agency body of the PAOCC, has initiated already the forfeiture petitions filed in the courts concerned.

According to the PAOCC chief, the Bamban POGO is being eyed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for military use, while the Porac POGO building is being proposed to be converted as a new state university/college (SUC). In fact, a bill was filed yesterday in Congress seeking to forfeit foreign-acquired real estate properties, particularly those linked to POGOs.

No wonder the AFP broached the idea of repurposing the Bamban POGO hub for military use.

At the same Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Department of Information and Communications (DICT) Undersecretary Alexander Ramos explained many of these POGOs started as BPO (business process outsourcing) companies that answer queries on online casino games. However, many of the cyber scams were traced to these POGO hubs that became the "red flags" to detect clandestine POGOs, Ramos added.