2 POGOs Leave Philippines and More May Follow

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) confirmed that two Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) businesses have left the Philippines, including a unit of Macau’s gambling giant Suncity Group.

Andrea Domingo, PAGCOR chair and chief executive confirmed the news with the statement “Yes, Suncity has left,”

Jose Tria, PAGCOR assistant vice president for offshore gaming licensing added “I’ve heard there are other companies that also plan to cancel their licenses, but I haven’t received their official letters so I can’t name them yet,”

While the government allows offshore gaming centers to partially resume operations during quarantine, majority of POGO licensees are still unable to reopen due to issues on taxes being imposed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against the industry.