“In fact, it halts progress, self-reliance, creativity, industry, and ingenuity of people”
MARK this date.
For the first time in history, congress will hold a virtual session on Monday, May 4, 2020, to discuss matters of dire import to the future of the country. The halls of congress may be half full or half empty, depending on your own perspective, because most lawmakers are holed in their lair due to the imposition of enhanced or general community quarantine.
Some of their honorable members in the senate like Senators Koko Pimentel, Migz Zubiri and Sonny Angara who are confirmed “Covid-19” survivors would not want to start an intra-senate infection or else the upper chamber would be doing virtual sessions ad infinitum.
One of the things of great importance in the agenda aside from hearing the weekly report by the president on how he used the Php 275-billion budget for the fast-becoming controversial Social Amelioration Program (SAP) is the re-opening of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO).
According to Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia, “the employment of Chinese citizens in POGO has been a subject of national interest in the Philippines.” Why? Simply because of three reasons:
Firstly, gambling or a game of chance is prohibited in China, or at least, in some parts of China because ironically, Macua is known as the “gambling capital of Asia.” And because it is “prohibited” there, Chinese “capitalist railroaders”—as fundamental communist cadres call them, who made their fortune from the loathed capitalist system will find other places in the world to spend or to invest their money. In fact, China has probably produced more young billionaires than any country in the world.
Secondly, the government of the Philippines welcomes POGO as a revenue-generating mechanism to fund its multi-billion infrastructure projects under the “Build-Build-Build Program” of the Department of Public Works and Highways. Malacañang has supposedly issued a statement supporting the operation of the POGO and wanted the passage of a law to mainstream its operation in the country.
The Palace even equated the POGO to the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) because only foreigners can literally bet on the POGO centers. BPO is a method of subcontracting various business-related operations to third-party vendors. By comparison, however, BPO is not a game of chance, but a legitimate game of demand and supply dictated by the market forces under a capitalist economic system.
And, thirdly, there is a mounting discontent and criticism about the operation of POGO in the country, not to mention the perpetual opposition of the Roman Catholic Church of any kind of gambling. More families in poverty-stricken places appear to be more addicted to game of chance than those that are not.
The Small-Time Lottery (STL) of the government has been proven to be futile in curbing illegal gambling operations in the country like “hueteng” and “last-two,” among other forms, which it supposed to kill. Reports of rigging of game results, bet manipulation, and other anomalies are but some issues shrouding this game of chance that is legalized by the government. This is the reason why the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) that takes charge in the operation of STL has suspended its operation in 2019 and until now when the lockdown was imposed because of Covid-19 pandemic.
It is amusing, and oftentimes frustrating to hear reports that some SAP beneficiaries spend their assistance to gambling and to support their vices. Perhaps they gain more from gambling than the small paltry aid they receive from the government. Fortunately, they have been identified and blacklisted to receive the next waves of support from the government.
But is POGO really bad in this time of crisis? You may have your opinion but for me, with or without crisis, gambling will never be a vehicle for growth and development of our country. In fact, it halts progress, self-reliance, creativity, industry, and ingenuity of people. Leaving genuine progress to games of chance is like waiting for the moon to come to earth.
POGOs have been there for some time, but what have we gained. Have we not heard the Bureau of Internal Revenue complaining of non-payment of right taxes? Have we not heard about rising criminality involving fellow Chinese nationals? Does not the increase of incidence of prostitution, trafficking in person, proliferation of illegal drugs, and undocumented aliens bother us?
We are glad that despite the alleged open support of President Rody Duterte to POGO’s operation, many lawmakers in both houses of congress have manifested their opposition to it. Kudos to all of them!
Their action is like telling us that not all that a popular president say is right; and, not all that is Chinese is good for the country.
Chow!
