Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.
— Robert Francis Kennedy

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — Senator Ana Theresia 'Risa' Hontiveros-Baraquel wants the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to sequester the properties acquired by illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which are now banned in the country.

The senator made the call on Thursday following OSG's move to revoke fraudulent birth certificates obtained by foreign nationals, most of whom reportedly worked in the POGO hubs.

The lady legislator asserted that it is necessary for the government to seize the illegally-acquired properties and their confiscation "should then be used as reparation for human trafficking victim-survivors, as stated in the Anti-Financial Account and Scamming Act."

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra expressed support to the idea, saying that this effort is critical for upholding laws governing property ownership in the Philippines.

But still, apart from this obviously logical move, has our government officials learned anything from the experience we suffered from the operation of POGOs in the country?

The POGO industry was once hailed as a driver of economic growth but we soon discovered that it was a hub for criminal activities, including human trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion.

During his term in office as the country's chief executive, former President Rodrigo 'Rody' Duterte insisted that the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) were beneficial to the Philippines as it generated much needed revenue for government and created employment opportunities for unemployed Filipinos who desperately needed income in order to provide for their families and give them a decent life.

But this wasn't so because it turned out that most of those who were employed by the POGOs were foreign nationals and moreover, instead of doing legitimate business, the POGOs got involved in criminal activities like human trafficking, illegal drugs, cyber scams and prostitution.

The proliferation of the POGO hubs became a thorn which jeopardized the well-being of Filipinos and even corrupted government and police officials who were lured to them because of big bribes and payouts that reportedly reached hundreds of millions of pesos.

This is now realized as a bitter pill that has given us serious lessons that we hope our government should have learned from and must avoid in the future.

Our government should by now have found the obvious lessons from the POGO fiasco, among them the need to legislate a law that screens and scrutinizes new industries or business platforms considered 'alien' or 'first-of-its-kind' before they enter and establish themselves in the country.

Due diligence must be done to study the pros and cons of their existence rather than just embrace them or become ecstatic based on the rosy picture of the positive economic impact, job creation and opportunities, inclusivity and tendency to spawn allied businesses that they offer.

However, if an existing law or policy is already in place, perhaps amendments should be made to address potential problems and issues by installing safeguards and preventative measures. This is akin to some industry practices (e.g., manufacturing) where if any change or “something new” is introduced in an existing process (i.e., personnel, material, method, and environment), a thorough evaluation is needed before any change is approved.

And depending on the nature of the 'new industry' being introduced, appropriate agencies should be chosen to do the task that covers doing the standard review process of business or industry plan based on existing procedure, assessing support and compliance based on country’s resources, environment, infrastructure, existing laws and regulations and establishing protocols and flow to prevent or mitigate potential problems and issues with assigned agencies to handle.

Aside from these, the government should initiate to set a benchmark with other countries with a similar industry to learn from them about problems and issues experienced while assigning a lead agency or 'industry czar' that would spearhead and coordinate the above tasks and finally, submit a summary report on findings and recommendations subject to review and approval by the President.

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