The bills, which were filed by the House Quad Committee (Quadcom), aim to close legal loopholes which allegedly enabled wrongdoing linked to POGOs.

These operations, which were banned in 2024, have been linked to serious crimes including kidnapping, torture and murder, as well as a bizarre scandal involving a small-town mayor accused of being a Chinese spy.  

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Quadcom chair (pictured), said: “In a simple analysis, local and foreign crime syndicates carefully studied the weaknesses and loopholes in our laws and used them to carry out their illegal activities in our country.”

Barbers outlined Quadcom has also recommended 30 additional amendments to strengthen existing laws following the inquiry.

The legislation is the product of a long-running Quadcom POGOs investigation, which scrutinised the country’s controversial relationship with offshore gambling.

Alongside these bills, the committee filed one additional bill related to extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration’s drug war.

The first proposed law is House Bill No. 10987, which would prohibit all forms of offshore gaming with penalties reaching P10m (€170,000) for violations.

President Marcos Jr. announces total POGOs ban

President Marcos Jr. announced a total ban in the summer, although concerns remain underground POGOs, which are responsible for the worst of the alleged crimes, will continue to operate.

Other filed bills would allow forfeiture of real estate unlawfully obtained by foreign nationals, punish conspiracy to commit espionage and allow for the cancellation of illegitimate birth certificates.

This legislation appears related to former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, whose connections to an illegal POGO site and mysterious background led to widespread speculation she was a clandestine agent for the Chinese state.

Guo was arrested after fleeing to Indonesia in September, after which she was extradited to the Philippines where she is facing criminal charges.

She has also been linked to a POGO posing as a real estate business that has been linked to illegal drugs, money laundering, and organised crime activities called Empire 999.

Barbers added: “In our initial investigation into Empire 999, we discovered that POGOs use Filipino and Chinese dummies as nominal owners.”