Overseas game B2B can be avoided. No POGO

Alejandro Tengco (file photo) says up to 14 business-to-business (B2B) service companies licensed by the Philippines should avoid a ban on online offshore gaming businesses in the Philippines, although he works with overseas online gaming operators. He said such businesses have hired more than 9,000 Filipinos.

The head of Philippine Entertainment Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), a regulator in the Philippines, told ABS-CBN News that the companies involved, locally known as those in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) sector, were not directly involved in gambling.

Mr. Tengko said instead that the BPOs involved had provided support services for gaming companies based in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States, respectively. He added that such businesses were not classified as game licensing.

On July 22, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the leader of the Philippines, said that the Philippine Overseas Game Operator (POGO), now known as IGL, will have to close its operations in the Philippines by the end of the year.

However, Mr. Tengco said that existing BPOs serving overseas game companies and the six companies applying for BPO permits should be spared. "As of today, we have another six applicants, except for 12 or 14 BPOs," he pointed out.

Pagkor said he will make such an offer at a meeting with members of the Philippine cabinet in the coming days. He has already raised the issue with Marcos, according to news outlets.

"If they (politicians) say it will just be used to cover up the IGLs, I will respect and we will comply," Tengko also said of the national leaders.

Still, in a comment to the news outlet, Pagcor suggested: "The big issue here is that as soon as we can successfully shut down , the next challenge will be enforcement." This is because many companies that were previously disenfranchised for violating conditions are "still around" and operating illegally.

Sen. Sherwin Gachalian, a longtime critic of the offshore game operator, expressed reservations about exceptions to certain BPOs proposed by Tenko in a separate ABS-CBN news interview on Tuesday.

"There's a fine line between game companies and these service providers to real game companies," the senator said. "We allow but don't want a scenario that eventually turns into a game company."

President Marcos has directed appropriate public agencies to help Filipino workers who will be deported due to a ban on the offshore online gaming sector.

As of July 16, there were 38 IGL license holders and seven temporary license holders who could offer games to international customers, according to Pagcor. The regulator said 43 licenses were now in operation.
 

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