The National Bureau of Investigation has opened an inquiry into alleged land seizures in Bataan Province connected to the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming sector. The case represents yet another complication in the government’s efforts to extricate the country from an industry that once generated billions in revenue but became synonymous with organised crime.

Local farmers claim their rural parcels were illegally transferred to a holding company linked to Harry Roque, the former presidential spokesman turned fugitive. Roque, who once presented himself as a human rights advocate, faces qualified human trafficking charges related to POGO operations in Pampanga. He’s reportedly fled to Austria.

According to the NBI’s National Capital Region division, preliminary findings suggest “possible falsification of documents” in the land transfers, which allegedly occurred without proper authorisation from the Department of Agrarian Reform. The bureau has committed to a thorough investigation and potential prosecution.

An Industry’s Rise and Collapse

The offshore gaming sector was legalised in 2016 under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. At its peak, POGOs contributed PHP5.17 billion (US$86 million) in 2023, with projections reaching PHP7 billion for 2024.

The economic benefits proved insufficient to offset mounting evidence of criminal enterprise.

Raids on POGO facilities uncovered operations extending far beyond gaming: online romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, forced labour, and human trafficking. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned the industry in 2024, ordering complete shutdown by year’s end.

“Disguising as legitimate entities, the operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming,” Marcos stated in his 2024 State of the Nation address. He listed financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, kidnapping, torture, and murder among the documented offences.

The Narcotics Connection

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla revealed this week that Chinese nationals associated with POGOs control most active drug syndicates currently operating in the Philippines. Speaking at a press briefing in Trece Martires City, where authorities incinerated PHP4.56 billion worth of confiscated narcotics, Remulla described POGOs as “a plague on the Philippines.”

“Almost all the syndicates we’ve caught here are led by Chinese nationals using visas from POGOs,” Remulla told reporters. The burned drugs represented seizures from just the previous six months, which gives you some sense of the scale of trafficking operations that flourished alongside the offshore gaming industry.

Last October, police raided Central One Bataan Inc, a business process outsourcing company allegedly fronting for an unlicensed POGO. The firm was not registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the domestic gaming regulator. Central One has denied the allegations.

Long-Term Consequences

The POGO saga illustrates the risks governments face when licensing offshore gaming operations without sufficient oversight mechanisms. What began as a revenue opportunity evolved into a vehicle for transnational organised crime.

The consequences are still unfolding more than a year after the ban.

The land theft investigation adds property fraud to an already extensive list of criminal activities associated with the sector. For Philippine authorities, dismantling the infrastructure and prosecuting those involved will likely occupy law enforcement resources for years to come.