The ban announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will end the operations of POGOs and internet gaming licensees. However, it is still uncertain if this ban will affect other related sectors in the gaming industry. These sectors employ about 10,000 Filipinos. However, Senator Mark Villar guaranteed on Friday that workers in the SCBPOs will not be affected by the total ban on POGOs in the country.
What Villar Said
Senator Mark Villar provided this guarantee after inspecting SCBPOs in Aseana, Parañaque City. He was accompanied by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco. Villar noted that SCBPO workers will not be affected by the expected closures before the end of the year. This means that related Filipino workers will not lose their jobs. Villar supported the closure of illegal POGOs but stressed the importance of properly implementing the President’s directive to protect Filipino workers.
As the chair of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, he conducted the inspection to better understand SCBPO operations. He explained that the purpose of the inspection was to observe how SCBPOs operate and to see how they differ from POGOs, which will be shut down by the end of the year.
Added Explanations
Al Tengco stated that SCBPOs regulated by PAGCOR employ over 4,900 Filipino workers and 137 foreign nationals. He explained that 95 percent of the workers in SCBPOs must be Filipino, as required by PAGCOR guidelines. This is a major difference between POGOs and SCBPOs. If all SCBPOs under investment promotion agencies (IPAs) are included, the total number of Filipino workers would reach 10,000. Tengco also clarified that SCBPOs only provide services for land-based gaming entities abroad and do not take bets.
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