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On Wednesday, the Philippine Government released a uniform protocol to enhance coordination among the different agencies while enforcing the nationwide ban against POGOs in the country. Through this initiative, the agencies have been provided with legal authority and a better mechanism for executing the ban.
Unified Procedures
The signing of the SOP was done by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto at Malacañang Palace in Manila. The adoption of a unified SOP was done to ensure that the two executive orders issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in 2025 are fully implemented. These include Executive Order No. 74 and Republic Act No. 12312, also referred to as the POGO Ban Act.
The SOP combines the two executive orders as well as fifteen other laws and department orders in one comprehensive action plan. It incorporates intelligence gathering, operations, documentation, prosecutions, and seizure of assets in one workflow system.
The document further creates a standardized and legally sound approach for dealing with cases of illegal POGOs, gambling licensees, and their other crimes. By putting together these various regulations into one set of laws, the Philippine government hopes that this will help clear up any confusion within the offices responsible for implementing them.
Agency Roles
Under the SOP, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission will serve as the principal coordinating agency. The Department of Justice will also play a more direct role by embedding prosecutors early in case buildup, a move intended to improve case quality and raise the chances of conviction.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Securities and Exchange Commission will handle financial and corporate intelligence tied to the fruits of illicit activities. Their role is intended to support the broader effort to trace money flows and corporate links connected to illegal operations.
The SOP also covers the management and maintenance of seized POGO assets. That part of the framework is meant to ensure that confiscated property and other recovered items are properly handled under the new system.
Victim Support
The government also said the new rules will take a victim-centered approach in dealing with POGO-related impact. The Department of Social Welfare and Development will be tapped to provide temporary shelter for victims, ensure that trafficked persons are not criminalized, and give access to witness protection.
This part of the SOP reflects the government’s broader effort to address not only enforcement but also the consequences of illegal POGO activity on affected individuals. It places victims within the process from the start, rather than treating the matter only as a law-enforcement issue.
Recto’s Remarks
Recto said the signing of the SOP is an important step in carrying out Marcos’ directive against POGOs with speed, resolve, and coordination. He said the new guidelines will help clean up the mess left by the social scourge and prevent the possible return of the illegal industry.
He noted that the SOPs would move from merely stopping hubs to asset protection, confiscation of ill-gotten wealth, prosecutions, victim assistance, and cutting off criminal syndicates from their lifelines, which include the financial and corporate communities supporting them. Moreover, Recto referred to POGOs as a constantly changing threat and a product of transnational crime syndicates that could rise again under different guises and forms, especially when the government fails to maintain its alertness and coordination.
Recto stressed that the new guidelines seek to turn the law into a sophisticated weapon instead of an unprocessed one. He explained that the purpose is to thoroughly dismantle the illegal POGO operations and arrest their perpetrators.
Final Message
To conclude, Recto noted that the new move should act as a warning to all POGOs that they will not have success within the country. The reason why this was done was not only to respond to crimes committed but to prevent them from having the space, money, and impunity to thrive.
He added that with this move, POGOs received notice that their time is over and that no more tolerance will be shown towards them; instead, the full weight of the law will come upon them.
Source: Philippine News Agency
