(POLITIKO) Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada has lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for following through with his promise to ban Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) that became a front for organized crime.
Estrada thanked the President for signing Executive Order No. 74, which outrightly banned Philippine offshore gaming, internet gaming, and other offshore gaming operations.
“The issuance of Executive Order No. 74 should no longer come as a surprise considering the President’s pronounced policy of a complete ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators in his last State of the Nation Address (SONA),” Estrada said on Friday (Nov. 8).
“Patunay ito na pinaninindigan ng Pangulo ang naging desisyon niya ilang buwan na ang nakaraan dahil na rin sa mga naglipanang sindikatong kriminal na nagtatago sa operasyon ng POGO,” he added.
Estrada agreed with the President’s position that POGOs have become a haven for syndicates to do their criminal activities like human trafficking, kidnapping, and torture.
“I share the sentiment of the President insofar as safeguarding national security, public order, upholding the rule of law and the safety of our kababayans over economic and social benefits derived from the POGO industry,” Estrada said.
“Dapat manaig ang kapakanan at kaligtasan ng publiko. Nakita natin na samu’t sari na ang naging masamang epekto at pagsamantala ng mga nasa likod na operasyon ng POGOs kaya’t dapat lamang na i-ban na ang mga ito,” he added.
The senator hoped that the government would fulfill its promise of providing jobs to Filipino workers who would be displaced by the POGO ban.
“Umaasa ako na hindi pababayaan ng ating mga ahensya ng gobyerno ang mga apektadong kababayan nating manggagawa lalo na’t malinaw sa kautusan ng Pangulo na bibigyan sila ng kaukulang tulong para makapagsimula muli at magkaroon ng disenteng trabaho,” Estrada said.