THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recommends preventive suspension for Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo amid identity concerns and her alleged involvement in illegal POGO activities.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, a member of the National People’s Coalition (NPC) council of advisers, also seeks the expulsion of Guo from their party.
Gatchalian noted that Guo ran as an independent candidate in the 2022 elections and only joined the NPC after assuming office.
“It is not the type of member we want for our party. Our members must have high integrity, good moral conduct, and must not be involved in criminal activities,” said Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
“It’s important for us to maintain the integrity of the NPC’s memoirs because it will set a precedent. In fact, when she ran in 2022, her certificate of candidacy wasn’t f NPC; she ran as independent. When she won, it’s normal to ally with the ruling party, and she allied with the NPC because the entire Tarlac is NPC,” Gatchalian added.
Meanwhile, due to Mayor Alice Guo’s involvement in POGO, Gatchalian warned about the emergence of POGO Politics in the country, where syndicates behind POGO operations allegedly have connections to those in power.
According to the senator, authorities are also closely monitoring similar activities in various locations.
He also proposed a bill to close down POGOs.
According to Senate President Chiz Escudero, if POGOs are to be shut down, all other forms of gambling in the country should also be included.
“Personally, what I prefer is if we want to ban gambling… then let’s just ban all of it. So, there will be no gambling in the Philippines if that’s what we really want, and the evils associated and linked to gambling, like trafficking, money laundering, cyber fraud, will be eradicated,” stated Sen. Chiz Escudero, Senate President.
But according to Gatchalian, compared to casinos, POGOs only bring crime.
“We can’t include them in the casino business here in the Philippines because their activities are different. POGOs are really involved in criminal activities,” Gatchalian added.
Two Manila lawmakers back Sen. Gatchalian’s POGO shutdown bill
Some Manila congressmen support the closure of POGOs, as well as other forms of gambling such as online gaming that can target children.
Aside from online platforms, they say gambling can also be offered through text, saying that this issue should be resolved promptly by the telecom companies.
“We wrote to them to inquire if these gambling offerings are truly allowed through text messages because how is it regulated, are there age restrictions? What if a child has a cellphone and clicks on the link, they can start gambling,” according to Cong. Irwin Tieng, District 5 Representative, Manila.
“Gambling should not be accessible; if you put it online, children will be hit hard by gambling, even using their allowances. That’s the biggest sin we can commit in our society,” said Cong. Ernix Dionisio, District 1 Representative, Manila.
