MONDAY / FEBRUARY 17, 2o2o
WWW.INQUIRERNET
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By DJ Yap
@deejayapINQ
Tax-evading Philippine ofishore
garning operators (Pogos) should
be "shut down and sent home,"
according to the chair of the
House dangerous drugs panel.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert
Ace Barbers on Sunday urged thd
Pbilippine Amusement and Gam-
ing Corp. (Pagcor) and the Bureau
of lnternal Revenue (BIR)to crack
down on "tax-cheat" Pogos fol-
lowing revelations that they failed
to pay ar estimated P5o billion in
withholding income and fr4n-
chise taxes last year.
"The govemment allowed Po-
gos to operate here because of the
projected revenues they would
provide and help our economy.
But if the Philippine government
would be shortchanged on this,
then it is time to shut down tleir
illl'EUlllil0
operations and send them
home," he said.
Barbers cited the reYela-
tions at a recent Senate hear-
ing by lawyer Sixto Dy Jr. of
the BIR Ofrce of the Deputy
Commission for Operations,
who disclosed that all for-
eign-based Pogo- licbnsees
had not paid their franchise
tax in 2019 worth at least PV
to P18 billion.
The BfR also revealed that
it was only able to collect P5
billion in zorg from Pogos.
Of 6o licensed Pogos, 50
are online casino operators
based abroad while ro are
Philippine-based.
Barbers said he had already
warned in a privilege speech
last year that these Pogos
"could only bring social, la-
bor and security problems for
the country, like being used as
PAe€ -Ato'
P0E0$
money laundering tools by in-
ternational drug trafrckers and
other crime syndicates."
He said the sprouting of
Pogos coincided with a ris€ in
crimes involving Pogo work-
ers such as fraud, illegal gam-
bling, kidnhp-for-ransom, il-
legal drugs and prostitutior!
particularly in Metro Manila.
Barbers recalled Pagcor
chair Ardrea Domfngo's state-
ment that the Pogo industry
could bring in Pzo billion a year
in lease payments to the real
estate sector, anotJrer Pzo bil-
lion in income taxes annuallt
and a montlfy PL2S billion in
value-added tax from the pur-
'
chases of foreign workers.
"In 2019, the government
collected only P5 billion from
Pogos. Where is 3he Pzo bil-
lion in revenues tfrey were
promising?" he said. rNa