By Macon Ramos-Araneta
Sen. Francis Escudero braces for an increase in taxes to complement losses of revenues from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) if their operations will be banned in the country. “If we shut down their operations, we will raise taxes since we need to cover loss income from them,” warned Escudero during the “Kapihan sa Manila Bay.”
“For this, I’d like to look at the big picture,” also said Escudero, member of the Senate Committee on Finance that oversees public expenditures. He asserted that one bad POGO doesn’t make all POGOs bad, especially not when the government is raising revenues for its various mandates.
“Look, some are bad but that doesn’t mean all are bad. Some are bad but government is earning PAGCOR’s income increased by several hundred percent due to POGO,” he said, referring to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). “My stand is not because some are bad eggs, the solution is to ban all…I do not agree in that kind of principle and policy, except when the ban covers all (gambling),” added Escudero during the recent ‘Kapihan sa Manila Bay.’
Escudero compared POGO to pollution-causing vehicle. He questioned if buses will be banned since most buses pollute nature. “Also for jeeps? Let’s replace them because they create a lot of noise and pollution because they are not maintained'” he also asked. “As a policy, don’t apply to all for the mistake of some, ” he added.
The senator commended PAGCOR, which is a 100-percent government-owned and -controlled corporation under the Office of the President, for giving POGOs provisional licenses pending review.
He read in the news that PAGCOR has given all POGOs provisional licenses pending review, and that at the end of the review, will know how many will be allowed to operate. He pointed out this is a good first step of PAGCOR to give temporary licenses pending a review of all as well.
At the same time, Escudero advised PAGCOR to coordinate with law-enforcement agencies not so much as to get its clearance but only to be informed of what is happening to the license issued to them.
The review of POGO, he said, is a good start but PAGCOR should coordinate with law- enforcement agencies, not to clear with them but of course so that it knows what’s going on to those it issued licenses,” said Escudero.