PIGOs can be banned if they have the same problems as POGOs, according to Malacañang.
According to Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, so far, there is no evidence that PIGOs are related to crime.
After President Marcos ordered a crackdown on POGOs due to illegal activities, Senate President Francis Escudero requested a cost-benefit analysis on PIGO licenses from PAGCOR to determine whether it should be continued.
Escudero said that PIGOsoffer the same online games to Filipino clients, so it should be examined whether it has the same effect as POGOs.
Castro said there is a difference between PIGOs and POGOs. PIGOs have not been linked to crime and most of their employees are Filipino, while most POGOs are foreign nationals.
He added that the advertising and marketing expenses of PIGOs remain in the Philippines, unlike POGOs.
Castro also explained that when there were POGOs, there were sublicensees that did not pay taxes. But in PIGOs, the taxes paid were high.
However, the Marcos administration is not ruling out the possibility of a PIGO ban if it is similar to POGOs in terms of social costs.
"If what happened with POGOs happens, the President will not hesitate to ban them, but we still need enough data," Castro said..
During Marcos's State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July, he announced the POGO ban. All POGO licenses were canceled in December, but the government is preparing for possible guerrilla operations of these that could have become scam centers.
Illegal activities connected to POGOs include financial scams, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, and kidnapping.
