POGO Industry Making a Comeback in the PH

After two years, the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) industry is returning to the country, once again renting out office space and residential areas. 

According to Mr. David Leechiu, a property consulting veteran, said even with the Omicron wave of the pandemic last December 2021 to February 2022, the Philippines indicated new office leasing contracts amounting to 276,000 square meters from January to May 2022. 

Generally speaking, Mr. Leechiu said that demand for office space in Q2 of 2022 is expected to be the highest since January 2020.

“So it looks like it’s on the path to recovery. I don’t think Omicron 2 is going to change that” says Mr. Leechiu. “If it ever successfully stops the growth, then I think it will be very temporary, and as soon as people get well and more people to get well, you’re going to see a continuation of this increasing demand because the sentiment has totally changed from a tenant market perspective.”

The market for office space was majority those hailing from the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry. Recently, the government has asked the IT-BPM firms to fully return to the office set-up should they want to avail of tax exemptions. 

Previously, the last POGO office leasing transactions took place in Q1 of 2020 before COVID-19 and the quarantine restrictions. 

The POGO industry mostly employs mainland Chinese workers. At its pre-pandemic height, the POGO industry made up 10-15% of major office landlords’ portfolios. Aside from office space, residential spaces were also rented out and were a big contributor to consumer spending. 

The POGO law enacted last 2021 required all offshore gaming companies to pay a 5% gaming tax on the gross gaming receipts coming from their operations.

Source: Inquirer