Taxing Pogos did not make them legal, says Sotto
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III
MANILA, Philippines – Former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Tuesday said that the law taxing Philippine offshore gaming operations (Pogos) “did not legalize” them.
Sotto, who was Inquirer’s INQside Look guest on Tuesday, said it was the President’s prerogative to prohibit Pogos and defended Republic Act 11590, the legislation passed during his Senate presidency that amended the internal revenue code to tax Pogos.
“Nasa Presidente yun. Sana pinigil ng Presidente nila. Hinayaan e. Binigyan ng Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation). Hinayaan nila e. So ano ginawa ng Kongreso? Ang ginawa ng Kongreso, ‘Teka muna. Walang napapala ang gobyerno diyan. I-tax natin.’ We did not legalize it. We merely taxed it,” he said.
(It’s up to the President. Their President should’ve stopped it. But, he allowed it. Pagcor allowed it. They allowed it. So what did Congress do? What Congress did was, ‘Hold on. The government isn’t benefiting from that. Let’s tax it.’ We did not legalize it. We merely taxed it.)
“Ang pakinabang diyan: alam natin sino ang mga nagbabayad, sino ang legal at hindi. Kaya nagkabisto-bisto yung mga hindi legal. So instead of criticizing the Congress that passed the taxing of the Pogo, it should be praised because now bisto na yung mga ilegal. Na-bisto tuloy to, edi natigil,” he said.
Article continues after this advertisement(The good thing is we know who is paying, who is legal and who is not. That’s why we discovered the illegal ones. So instead of criticizing Congress that approved taxing Pogos, it should be praised because now the illegal ones have been discovered and stopped.
Article continues after this advertisement“If somebody filed a law then to declare Pogos illegal, I would have voted for it,” Sotto added.
Sotto was Senate president from 2018 to 2022.
He seeking another Senate term in 2025.
Amid the chamber’s investigation into scam hubs, Senator Win Gatchalian last May filed a bill to outlaw Pogos.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address last July banned all Pogos operations.
