Many folks have been wondering what the letters POGO stand for and frankly, when I first came across this term, I was a little lost too. The simple answer is that it's an acronym for "People Over Getting Owned" – which is exactly what it stands for. Nah! I'm just kidding, although you could use that as well. But this POGO is different, it stands for "Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators". I want to discuss, what is POGO and why is it having a hard time doing its thing here in the Philippines. I recently came across a forum post wherein the poster complained about POGO not being able to open a casino in Cebu. I was already aware of this but, wanted to get some more information on this. It looks like the gaming industry here in the Philippines is indeed having problems with licensing and licensing commissions.
So why is this? It's not like the Philippines is a small nation, everyone knows that the Philippine government has issues with corruption. So what gives? Well, we can part a major part of the answer to that question. In a nutshell, the reason why this issue has been plaguing our gaming industry is an unfortunate prejudice that our leaders have against other nations. The fact is, some other governments do not believe it's right for other nations to open up casinos on their soil.
"You don't have one. Why should we?"
Of course, there are some other factors to consider as well. It is true that the Philippines used to have a flourishing gaming industry until a few years back. One of the reasons for this was the creation of Indian casinos in Northern California where many Filipinos who work there would go on weekends and spend big in these said casinos. This led to a lot of these casino owners coming into the Philippines, scouting out potential spots, and even bringing in money from foreign sources to try and open one here.
Why did this not happen? It seems that these casino investors didn't do their homework as far as local laws were concerned and I'm not just talking about zoning ordinances here either. The Philippine Constitution states that any and all forms of gambling are illegal in the Philippines. This includes any form of online gambling as well.
I also want to bring up a very important point as well here. A lot of these potential casino investors didn't know the laws here because they were not Filipino citizens! I know it sounds harsh but it's true. However, there are some Filipino investors who have lost money due to this fiasco and those who are still trying to get their investment back. The sad part is, a lot of these people invested based on connections or acquaintances they had with government officials in hopes that this would lead to more business down the road. This would have been a very profitable venture as well, because as we all know the Philippines is one of the top travel destinations in Asia. There are also a lot of wealthy Filipinos who would love to be able to visit a casino without having to leave their own country.
I think I can say with much accuracy, that if foreign investors from other countries were allowed to come here and open up businesses here, that they would not have had many problems obtaining licenses. When they opened up these businesses in other countries, did anyone complain or see this as being unfair? My answer is no but, it's not like I live in any of those places so maybe there were some who complained about it. But these days, I'm not complaining, because I know that such people who complain are nothing but trouble.
But besides this issue of racism, there are other issues at play as well. A notable example is a time it took to get a gaming license in the Northern California area that I mentioned above. In a nutshell, local governments were very hesitant to grant any new licenses due to the reported increase in crime rates in these casinos when compared to other cities with said casinos within their borders. This was also an obstacle that POGO could not overcome and they've been trying for years to get a gaming license here in Cebu. However, some local government officials seem to be reluctant on granting them permission for various reasons.
One such reason is that they're afraid, that opening up casinos here in the Philippines will cause more crime and it will also be a negative to the local economy. This is due to the fact that a lot of Filipino laborers who work abroad make most of their money in these casinos every weekend. One other thing is because there are already so many illegal gaming parlors here, it's also a bit difficult for the local government to grant any new permits to open up any new casinos.
The last point I want to bring up as well as some of the "costs" associated with opening up a casino – especially if you're not from around here. The biggest problem is finding the right people to help you set up all the necessary things required for opening a casino. This means everything from zoning ordinances to obtaining licenses from more government agencies than I can count. Aside from that, you also need to let the community know exactly what it is that you're doing and why they should support it. If this is done correctly, then there shouldn't be any problems with your establishment being robbed or vandalized by any disgruntled locals who may be angry about a foreign investor coming here to open up a casino.
If you're considering investing in the Philippines, then try getting a local citizen as part of your team and this will make things easier on everyone involved in the process. If this still doesn't work, then I'm afraid that you might be out of luck as far as opening up a casino here is concerned. This is because even though the Philippine government wants to attract more foreign investment, there are some parts of the government itself that have an issue with foreign investors coming here and opening up businesses. The sad part is, if they do grant a license to you then it's very possible that there may be attempts by some local officials to try and pressure you into giving them money through their political positions. This has happened before in the country's history in other industries so it's not like it hasn't been done before. However, here's some advice for anyone who is considering investing in a new casino in the Philippines: if things get too difficult and it doesn't seem like they're going to work out with the local government, then you might want to consider opening up your business in another city.
I know that this might sound rather cynical, but it's been done before and can be done again. The fact of the matter is, there are quite a few investors from other countries who have already tried this and succeeded. So it's not like you would be alone if you did decide to do something like this.
