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00:00Okay, so before we go, we don't have enough time, but I wanted to ask you your stand on Pogos.
00:07Of course, not the stand the President has made it clear he is banning Pogos in the Philippines.
00:12So I want to ask you this. You've gone as far as saying we don't need a law to ban Pogos
00:20because it was only the PAG Corps that granted licenses. But I want to ask you first,
00:25didn't former President Duterte issue an executive order to actually allow Pogos?
00:31That executive order, actually, it gave, how would I say, it opened the door and gave them
00:38the courage to proliferate because of that executive order. Do you think President Marcos
00:43Jr. needs to issue an executive order on the ban on Pogos? He may, Karen, but my understanding is
00:52the executive order, if I remember correctly, Karen, I may be mistaken,
00:55the executive order issued by former President Duterte was to place all offshore gaming
01:02under PAG Corps. Because if you remember, Karen, at that time, it was under CESA,
01:07not under PAG Corps, following the principle that CESA's franchise included internet gaming,
01:13while PAG Corps' franchise did not include internet gaming because it is only for land-based
01:17gambling. So an executive order was necessary to transfer it to the jurisdiction of PAG Corps.
01:23But the licenses themselves, from CESA issuing the licenses in Cagayan before,
01:29to PAG Corps issuing the licenses, but it was only a transfer of jurisdiction.
01:34Now, Karen, we talked about the bill or the law, taxing Pogos. Now, Pogos, when the law was passed,
01:42taxing it was already an existing undertaking. Without that law, Pogos were already proliferating.
02:00But with or without that law, Pogo was already there. Even with that law right now,
02:06the President, by merely his word, actually banned it already, which is what I have been saying.
02:13All it takes to ban it would be Executive Fiat, or the word of the President to the PAG Corps Chair
02:19to actually ban and prohibit it. But Karen, there is a very thin line dividing this and other forms
02:24of gaming. We should look at and be comprehensive about this thing. I was going to ask you that
02:30because right now, PAG Corps is saying Pogos are different from what they call Internet Gaming
02:37License. It should have an IGL. It's legal. Pogos are illegal. But isn't that the same
02:45dog with a different collar, frankly, the same game with another name?
02:50I think PAG Corps should discuss this with the President. Otherwise, they might
02:57put the President in an odd situation. They themselves are not following a direct order
03:04and command of the President given and delivered in SONA. But Karen, my understanding is Pogo is,
03:10as the letter O suggests, Philippine Offshore Gaming. Pigo, which exists as Philippine Inland
03:19Gaming. The principal difference between the two is that Offshore is played by foreigners,
03:24principally Chinese. While Pigo is played by Filipinos, similar to Isabel before.
03:31So issues on regulation would have to be asked again. How much are being spent by Filipinos
03:39on gambling? How many billions is that every week and month? Second, what is our assurance
03:45that the below 18-year-old is no longer gambling? Just like what we saw with Isabel.
03:52We support the gambling of foreigners here, but the gambling of our own countrymen is okay?
03:59These are some questions that need to be looked into and answered by PAG Corps themselves. And I
04:04believe, Karen, Senator Mark Villars filed a resolution already to be referred today to his
04:10committee on games and amusements to discuss this phase-out of PAG Corps and this distinction
04:16supposedly between Pogo and IGL and whatever acronym they have. Because Karen, there's Pogo
04:23and Pigo. What's stopping Pogo, PAG, and Pigo? I mean, you can invent as many acronyms as you want.
04:31But you would like to be clarified too with this phase-out. What is really covered by the
04:36PAG Corps and PAG Corps is the legal focus. And number two, Karen, what does the law enforcement
04:47agencies plan to do insofar as banning is concerned? Law enforcement must have a comprehensive plan
05:02on how to put an end to it as soon as possible.