Senate approves anti-POGO bill on final reading
Senate Bill 2868, also known as the Anti-POGO Act of 2025, received 23 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions.
The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country.
Senate Bill 2868, also known as the Anti-POGO Act of 2025, received 23 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions.
It was authored by Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Bong Go, Raffy Tulfo, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, and Risa Hontiveros.
The bill declared offshore gaming operations in the Philippines as unlawful.
It was approved on second reading last June 4.
Under the bill, violators may face imprisonment of not less than six years to up to 12 years and be fined at least P300,000.
The bill also states that if the violator is a public official or employee, the maximum penalty will be imposed.
In 2024, authorities discovered some POGO hubs engaging in human trafficking and physical and sexual abuse. This includes POGO hubs in Bambam, Tarlac, and Porac, Pampanga.
This led to the arrest of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also identified as Guo Hua Ping, for alleged involvement in the illegal activities of a POGO hub in her town. –NB, GMA Integrated News
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
3 hours ago
- GMA Network
67-year-old woman assaulted by snatcher in Pampanga
A 67-year-old woman was dragged and kicked by a snatcher who stole her bag last in Barangay San Agustin in San Fernando, Pampanga recently. According to the report of GMA Regional TV's CJ Torida in '24 Oras' on Tuesday, the incident was caught on a security camera last May 24. CCTV footage showed the suspect following the victim from behind until he attempted to snatch her belongings. The two struggled with the victim's bag which, causing the woman to fall and be dragged on the road. The suspect then kicked the victim before running away with her valuables. 'She said in her statement that she was on her way home after visiting a friend when someone snatched her bag,' said Police Major Don Kenneth Asuncion, Sub-Station 2 Commander of City of San Fernando Police Station in Tagalog. Nearby residents tried to run after the suspect who managed to flee along with jewelry and around P3,000 cash inside the bag. Police said they have identified the suspect, who goes by the alias 'Rambo', and could be hiding somewhere in the towns of Lubao or Porac. The suspect is considered a notorious snatcher and was linked to several robbery cases of several houses in San Fernando. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
5 hours ago
- GMA Network
House prosecutor: Compressing impeachment trial would deny due process
"Yung away ng magkapitbahay, hindi yan nare-resolve sa Katarungang Pambarangay in one day," San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora said of the proposal to compress the impeachment trial into a period of less than three weeks. House impeachment prosecutor and San Juan City Representative Ysabel Maria Zamora on Tuesday said that the proposal to compress the timeline of the impeachment trial against Vice President Sara Duterte would deny both sides due process—and advised Senator Robin Padilla to review the Constitution after he filed a resolution to dismiss the impeachment complaint outright. 'Senator Padilla has to maybe review the Constitution. Maybe some of his advisors should advise him on constitutional law and that you cannot kill an impeachment by mere resolution,' Zamora told reporters in an interview. Zamora also opposed Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino's resolution for a compressed impeachment trial timeline of 19 days. 'Well, for me, that compressed timeline is unacceptable. Not acceptable for the simple reason that it will deny due process to both sides,' she said. The Senate on Tuesday finally convened as an impeachment court to put Duterte on trial over seven articles of impeachment, including the question of how P612.5 million in confidential funds was spent. Zamora said two days each is not enough for the House prosecution panel and the defense to present all of their evidence. 'This is both on a procedural side and on the substantive side of due process. Ang naisip ko nga po, yung away ng magkapitbahay, hindi yan nare-resolve sa Katarungang Pambarangay in one day [A dispute among neighbors cannot be resolved by the barangay justice system in one day]. What more an impeachment case against the Vice President where we have numerous voluminous documents or evidence to present. So we have to give both parties their right to due process,' she said. She also revealed that for five hours on Monday, the House prosecution panel practiced the reading of the Articles of Impeachment by House prosecutor and Batangas Representative Gerville Luistro and responding to possible questions that will be raised by the senators. About 15 private prosecutors joined the House prosecutors during the rehearsal, she added. Meanwhile House spokesperson Princess Abante said the House welcomed Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero's taking his oath as the impeachment court's presiding officer on Monday evening. "Ginalaw na po ang baso [They have made their presence felt]," she said. 'The House of Representatives welcomes this development… Nakinig na po ang Senado sa mga pahayag, hindi lang ng Kamara, kundi ng iba't ibang sektor ng lipunan [The Senate has listened to the calls, not just by the Congress, but by different sectors of society].' On Padilla's resolution to dismiss the impeachment complaint, Abante said, 'The Speaker has always said that he leaves it to the discretion of the Senate on how they will act on the impeachment trial. But there are various experts, both from the academe and the legal sectors, that state [that] the senator-judges cannot move to dismiss the trial on their own.' 'Ang hiling lang po natin, maging faithful sila sa alituntinin ng Konstitusyon [Our only request is that they remain faithful to the rules of the Constitution]. Because in a society that follows the rule of law, the Constitution will always be supreme,' Abante added. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos has also said that it is clear the impeachment proceedings will cross over from the current 19th Congress to the 20th Congress. 'Naging senator-judge din si President Bongbong Marcos. I understand where he's coming from. Ang importante sa Kamara ngayon, masimulan ang impeachment trial [President Marcos has been a senator-judge important is that the impeachment trial begin],' Abante said. 'Ang nakalagay naman sa Konstitusyon ay to try and decide. Hindi naman sinabi roon kung anong Congress ang magde-decide. Ang sinasabi ay simulan at tapusin at magbigay ng desisyon ang Senado,' she explained. (What it says in the Constitution is to try and decide. It does not say which Congress will decide. What it says is to begin the trial, end the trial, and hand down the Senate's decision.) Abante also said Vice President Duterte's present personal trip abroad will not derail the proceedings. 'I believe the impeachment rules have, meron naman siyang nakalagay kung paano ang pag-serve at notify sa accused. Ang requirement kasi diyan is personal service pero meron din naman sa rules if personal service cannot be made. Ang importante, simulan na ng Senado ang trial para alam na rin natin kung ano na yung mga susunod na hakbang ng prosecutors at ano na ang mangyayari sa impeachment process,' Abante stressed. (I believe the impeachment rules have a provision on how the accused may be notified. the requirement is personal service but there are also rules for when personal service cannot be made. What's important is that the Senate being the trial so that we the prosecutors will know the next steps to take and what will happen in the impeachment process.) Abante declined to comment on the Duterte defense team's allegations that the impeachment complaint is flawed, saying this is already the subject of the Vice President's petition before the Supreme Court challenging the House impeachment. Abante also defended the House of Representatives from Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero's pronouncements that the House also dilly-dallied on the impeachment complaints. 'I believe the House of Representatives did its job in a timely and decisive manner. Again, [the role of the] House of Representatives is to receive the complaint, to verify the complaint as to its form, substance and grounds, to make sure that it will be properly passed by the correct number of members of the House of Representatives, and it will be transmitted to the Senate. All these were done by the House of Representatives in a timely and decisive manner. Kung gaano katagal o kung gaano kabilis, hindi na yan kasama sa kailangang alalahanin ng Senado. Ang kailangang alalahanin ng Senado ay ang kanilang tungkulin sa impeachment process ayon sa Konstitusyon. Sabi ng Konstitusyon, proceed forthwith,' Abante said. (However long or quickly it took, it's not part of what the Senate must remember, and that is it is their duty according to the Constitution to proceed with the trial forthwith.) Asked for her reaction to Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa's claim that the country will be further divided by an impeachment trial, Abante replied, 'Well, ang impeachment trial, provided 'to ng Constitution. Merong mga dahilan para pagdaanan ito. Kung siguro unnecessary ang mga impeachment proceedings in all governments, dapat wala ito sa Constitution, di ba? So ako, tingin ko, kailangan munang masimulan at ang ating mga Senator-judges, makinig doon sa paglahad ng mga ebidensya and they will have the opportunity to decide on the case.' (An impeachment trial is provided for in the Constitution. There are reasons why it must be undertaken. If impeachment proceedings are unnecessary, than it wouldn't be in the Constitution, right? So, as I see it, the trial must first begin and the senator-judges must listen to the evidence as it is laid out and they will have the opportunity to decide on the case.) — BM, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
6 hours ago
- GMA Network
PH's oldest business group adds pressure for VP's impeachment trial to begin
The Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI), the country's oldest business institution, has joined the call for Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial to begin, adding to the mounting pressure for the Senate to immediately proceed with its Constitutional duty. In a statement, the CCPI, founded in 1886, said it calls on the Senate 'to perform their Constitutional and moral duty to immediately commence the Impeachment Trial of Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio and its continuation into the 20th Congress until acquittal or conviction, as called for by the esteemed professors of the UP College of Law and of the Ateneo de Manila.' Last week, several educational institutions including the Ateneo schools, the Lasallian Family, the University of the Philippines, and the University of Santo Tomas called for the Senate to begin the trial. 'The Constitution is very clear: in case a resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of the Members of the House…..trial by the Senate shall FORTHWITH proceed,' CCPI said. The business group emphasized that the word 'forthwith,' in any dictionary, means "immediately" or 'without delay." 'The Constitution does not recognize changes in the membership of the Senate, nor does it recognize recess or breaks, because the Senate no longer acts as a Legislative Senate per se, but as an Impeachment Court having acquired automatic jurisdiction over the Impeachment case per the Constitution,' CCPI said. 'We are a country that is governed by the 'Rule of Law,' not of Men. The Senate Impeachment Court should also not deny the right of the Vice President to due process,' it said. The country's oldest trade group said not following the Constitution would create an environment of instability, which impacts negatively on the business community, locally and internationally.' 'We pray that the Members of the Senate will properly and duly perform their Official Duties as mandated by the Constitution,' CCPI said. After the start of the impeachment trial was delayed for some weeks, the Senate on Tuesday finally convened as an impeachment court. — BM, GMA Integrated News
