By Arvin F.M.Cabalu/PIO
TARLAC Governor Susan Yap lauded the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in banning all POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation) in the country during his third State Of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa, June 22.
“I was elated and relief to hear when the president mentioned the banning of POGO in the country. The best SONA I ever heard so far.,” the governor said when asked during the Department of Migrant Workers press conference at the Diwa ng Tarlac last July 23.
The lady governor who has attended 14 previous SONAs both as a Congresswoman and now as Governor, expressed her admiration for the President’s comprehensive agenda and his administration’s achievements over the past year. She noted that President Marcos’ address highlighted crucial initiatives that resonate deeply with the people of Tarlac and the nation as a whole.
“This is my 14th SONA ever since I joined public service and in all of these, this is the first time I took notes [of the] 45 topics that the president discussed. First time. That’s how impressed I was with the president’s SONA. [A] very strong, very decisive and very clear message to all the Filipinos, especially his last statement,” the governor said.
Yap noted that the president’s order to ban all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country by the end of the year is “the best decision that a president can make.”
“Effective today [July 22], all POGOs are banned. I hereby instruct [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation] PAGCOR to wind down and cease the operations of POGOs by the end of the year,” the President said in his SONA.
“This strikes us in the heart because finally someone heard us. As early as 2020 I’ve had many press releases. In January 2021, we didn’t want the POGO in our province but it did happen. His ending statement last night made me very happy because finally someone took a decisive step to ban POGOs,” Yap said.
𝗣𝗢𝗚𝗢 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘆
In March of this year, Tarlac was at the center of controversy when a POGO Hub in Bamban town was raided by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime. The Mayor of Bamban, Alice Guo, was subjected to a senate hearing and several criminal cases were filed against her.
POGO has come to the attention of all Filipinos in the past months as Senate and Congressional hearings have unearthed various illegal activities involving elected officials of the country.
Yap, in previous interviews said that as early as January 2021, POGOs were already been banned in Tarlac province by virtue of a Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution.
