Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday announced a ban on previously named Filipino offshore game operators (POGO).

In his third State of the Union address since taking power, Mr Marcos said POGOs, now known as "Internet Game Licenses (IGLs), "have ventured into the most remote illegal territory of the game: financial fraud, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, cruel torture, and even murder."

He added: "The serious abuse and disrespect of our system must stop."

"From today, all POGOs will be banned," the Philippine leader said. "Accordingly, I am directing Pagcor [the Philippine Entertainment Gaming Company, the Philippine gaming regulator] to suspend and suspend the operation of the POGO by the end of the year."

The country\'s president also asked the Ministry of Labor and Employment to help workers who will become refugees.

Official data showed a total of 25,064 Filipinos were employed by various POGOs as of the end of 2023, with around 22,000 in the metro Manila region. Labor Minister Bienvenido Ragzma said in June that his department was taking the necessary steps to support affected workers in the event of a ban on offshore game operators.

GGRAasia approached Pagcor for comment, but did not receive a reply when this story went online.

Finance Minister Ralph Lecto and Socio-Economic Planning Minister Arsenio Ballysakan backed calls for a ban on the declaration, which the Philippine state news agency said mostly targeted mainland Chinese customers and employs a large number of Chinese-speaking foreign workers.

In April, the Chinese government said it was working with Philippine authorities on issues related to online gambling, and China claimed the Chinese were "victims of maritime gambling." The two countries have recently maintained strained relations with respect to maritime territorial disputes as well as maritime gambling operations.

Several Philippine lawmakers and business groups also urged the president to ban POGO altogether.

In July last year, Pagcor introduced new regulations for offshore operators. In May, regulators converted 13 temporary IGL permits to full. As of July 16, there were 38 IGL permit holders and seven temporary permit holders to provide games to offshore customers, according to Pagcor.

Over the weekend, a former Supreme Court judge said that Pagco should not have banned gambling within its borders or granted a proclamation serving China, given that China has targeted its citizens, except for Macau\'s land casino gambling

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