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Drilon on POGOs: Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asks Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Mel Georgie Racela to elaborate on a 2019 AMLC study on the online-casino based sector involving the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). Racela told Drilon the study showed that the total inflows and outflows involving POGOs and service providers totaled only to P52 billion with total net inflows amounting to P17 billion, leading them to conclude that the effect of POGOs to the economy is very minimal. Racela said 26 out of the 62 licensed POGOs have common addresses with their service providers, signifying that they have the same license. “According to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), each POGO should hire a service provider that is based here so even if they are offshore, we will still benefit from their operations,” Racela said during the proposed 2021 budget deliberations of the agency Thursday, September 17, 2020. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)