The Chairman and CEO of Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR says he will soon name a “former high ranking government official” he claims tried to facilitate the grant of gaming licenses to some of the illegal POGOs that have been recently raided and found to be engaged in illegal activities.
In a statement issue over the weekend, Alejandro Tengco also defended the performance of the agency during the two years of his reign, noting that the number of offshore gaming licenses has been reduced from a high of 298 to just 43 as of today.
According to Tengco, those currently investigating the suspicious activities of former POGO licensees should look into the role of former officials in granting licenses to POGO applicants with dubious backgrounds.
The PAGCOR chief said he will reveal in the proper forum the identity of a former Cabinet member he says had been lobbying for the illegal POGOs, as well as the circumstances that led to the proliferation of illegal and criminal offshore gaming operations.
“As a regulator, it is our mandate to ensure that only those with valid licenses are allowed to operate all forms of gambling and gaming activities, whether these are land-based casinos or online platforms,” Tengco said.
“It is in the interest of the government to crack the whip against illegal operators, including the so-called offshore gaming operators or POGOs and their backers, because the criminal activities associated with their illegal operations pose serious threats to our people.”
On the number of licenses issued in the past, Tengco added, “What we need to question, in the first place, was how those 298 POGO licensees were able to secure their licensees in the past because clearly, during our cleansing process, we found most of them to be ineligible and outright suspicious.
“We are also ready to reveal the roles of other controversial individuals behind these criminal POGO enterprises.”
Tengco’s comments come as an investigation into suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, recently revealed to be a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, continues.
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