Key Points
- Officials said in April that no illegal POGOs remained; on 2 October, agents arrested 244 foreigners.
- The National Bureau of Investigation is now checking whether government officials helped the hubs operate, though no finding exists yet.
- Arrests measure effort; convictions, shut hubs and seized assets will show whether the ban works.
Six months ago, the Justice Secretary asserted that there was no more illegal POGO left in the country. On 2 October, the agents took out around 3,000 mobile phones from one pension house located in Siay. The Bureau of Immigration arrested 244 foreigners from two different locations, most of them being Chinese. It claims to be the biggest operation done against the POGOs in 2018. Both operations were conducted by the BI intelligence officers together with the NBI and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The total of 113 foreigners in Siay included 110 Chinese nationals, two Cambodian and one Hong Kong national. In addition, 131 foreigners were arrested in Alicia, the majority being Chinese, while also including Malaysians, Indonesians and Myanmar nationals. There were 78 computer screens, laptops and SIM cards found inside the Casa de Coco Pension House. The BI claimed that the devices confiscated were used in online frauds.
Wording from official sources is very cautious, however, and well worth going through slowly. The raids came “as part of its investigation into suspected POGO operations” through Executive Order 74 and Republic Act 12312; raids on gaming floors are not confirmed yet. As Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado stated, “The Bureau of Immigration is firmly implementing the government’s policy against illegal POGO operations.” Identities and nationalities of those held still await checks by the BI’s Alien Registration Division.
Deportation Looms, but the Trafficking Question Stays Open
Anyone given a deportation order will be blacklisted and barred from returning. The immigration charges so far are plain: working without proper visas, lacking documents, or entering illegally. A second track runs beside them, because the BI is coordinating with other agencies on possible human trafficking offences. Nobody has yet decided who worked freely and who was forced.
What is so crucial about that division in regard to this case? The United Nations human rights office used the very same division in its 2023 report where it was stated that no less than 120,000 people in Myanmar might find themselves involved in online scams and around 100,000 people in Cambodia. These statistics concern the whole region in 2023, not the two towns.
Beijing’s reaction is known and it is calm. The Chinese embassy in Manila stated: “We are engaging with Philippine law enforcement agencies regarding the details of this case.” The spokesperson also stressed that according to Chinese law, citizens are not allowed to gamble outside of China and work in casinos.
NBI Opens a Second Line of Inquiry Into Local Officials
Three days after the raids, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) went beyond the people who were detained. In its news item, the Daily Tribune reported that NBI Director Melvin Matibag claimed that agents are probing into potential violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Officials in the two towns will get subpoenas along with requests for permits to build and operate the facilities. There were even suggestions of charges like human trafficking, fraud, and money laundering.
All of those are leads, but not evidence yet. Permits, if there are any, will reveal who authorized the construction and operation of the facilities, but not when officials turned a blind eye. Doubts that these places served as troll farms put politics into the equation where everyone thought the raiding of gambling facilities was just a matter of gambling.
From a July 2024 Ban to an April “POGO-Free” Claim
The ban was officially declared by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2024. Subsequently, the issuance of Executive Order No. 74 on 5 November 2024 mandated all offshore casinos to cease their operations by 31 December 2024.
Deportation deadlines do not usually empty the buildings, but this deadline failed to do the same thing. As per the BI, 11,254 foreign POGO employees were scheduled for deportation as per the deadline by January 2025. Out of the total number of 33,863 employees who were listed by the gaming regulator, 22,609 had already left their jobs before the deadline date.
A warning shot was issued from a hub in Metro Manila in February 2025. This Parañaque hub’s raid resulted in 453 persons being arrested that night, among which 146 were foreigners. This particular hub possessed city and barangay permits and was operational as an entertainment hub for one year. Investigators reported that the hub was involved in fraud in investment, romance, and sport bettings with regard to Chinese and Indian nationals. It was found to be much bigger than expected, covering two floors of the building.
Then came the law, which was enacted eight months after that raid. Republic Act No. 12312, approved on 23 October 2025, declares that offshore gaming facilities are “banned and declared unlawful.” This act further nullifies all POGO licenses permanently; therefore, any licensed POGO cannot legally exist anymore.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida stated on 7 April 2026 that “There are no official POGOs left anymore.” And he continued by saying, “Definitely, there are no illegal POGOs either.” Two weeks later, different agencies decided on a unified process where the above measures will be consolidated with 15 other laws and department orders. Executive Secretary Ralph Recto issued an advisory with a new outlook.
Recto described POGOs as “capable of coming back into existence using new names, new fronts and new methods.” Now, the process will move from shutting down businesses to asset preservation, confiscating illegal funds, and securing convictions. Funds will become a target now because the provisions are inclusive of money laundering and the creation of shell companies. October is the first big test of this promise.
What Happens Next?
Four things will tell the story from here, and each has an owner. The BI must finish identity checks and sort workers from possible trafficking victims. Deportation hearings follow once that sorting ends, along with blacklisting for those removed. A trafficking finding for any worker would change that person’s path through the system. The NBI must show whether any paperwork links officials to the sites. Prosecutors then have to turn seized devices and statements into court cases.
Expert Analysis: A Declared Ban Is Not a Finished Cleanup
We think “POGO-free” was the wrong claim to make in April. Law can ban licences; only raids, prosecutions and seized assets can ban hubs. Six months later, 244 foreigners in two towns showed the gap between the two.
We do not claim the ban failed, since the law did end licensed offshore gaming. What October shows is narrower: suspected successor hubs can still appear after the ban. A single raid cannot say how large that surviving trade is.
Arrests are the easiest number to publish and the weakest proof of success. We would judge Manila on three counts: hubs shut, cases won and money seized. Our test sounds harsh, yet the government wrote it first, in its own April rules. Parañaque in 2025 and Siay in 2026 look similar on the first count and silent on the other two.
The NBI’s probe of officials matters more to us than the headcount. Should its documents show who approved the buildings, the next raid becomes easier to prevent. If they show nothing, the question of how a 3,000-phone compound stayed hidden only gets louder.
Until courts hand down convictions, the 244 arrests prove effort, not success.
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