As of early 2026, the Philippines has announced that there are no longer any legal offshore gaming operators (POGO) within its territory. However, this is not the end of the risks, but the beginning of a more complex and dangerous phase. Although the original large parks have disappeared, related activities have not been eradicated, but have instead fragmented and shifted into a more covert underground mode. At the same time, joint crackdown operations by Philippine law enforcement agencies have become more frequent, and the national reporting mechanism makes any suspicious behavior visible. Did you know that from January to early February 2026 alone, several major operations were exposed, involving the arrest of 83 foreign nationals. The government prefers to bear a financial revenue loss of about 3 billion pesos in order to thoroughly rectify the situation, which has greatly compressed the living space of underground participants.
Zero-tolerance policy and high-pressure law enforcement status
The Philippine government has shown unprecedented determination this time. Multiple departments such as the Immigration Bureau and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Committee have joined forces to launch intensive lightning strikes. The crackdown operations have revealed that underground POGO activities have not disappeared but have shown new characteristics:
Decentralization of strongholds: From large parks to small teams of 10-20 people, hiding in upscale residences or nominal offices.
Business technologization: From traditional gambling to more covert online crimes such as cryptocurrency scams and pig butchering scams.
Widespread identity forgery: Using forged Philippine documents to open accounts and evade inspections.
These changes have increased the difficulty of law enforcement, but the official crackdown intensity and precision have also been synchronously enhanced. According to the tracking analysis on the PASA official website, this "cat and mouse game" upgrade means that the risk of any regulatory violations being investigated has significantly increased.
Risks of omnipresence under the national reporting mechanism
In addition to the official strong law enforcement, what is even more alarming is the fully mobilized national reporting network. The Philippine officials have offered high rewards and promised strict confidentiality, making reporting a "zero-risk, high-return" activity. Law enforcement departments have clearly listed several types of abnormal signs that must be investigated, such as frequent entry and exit of unknown foreign nationals in residential areas, nominal companies without actual business, etc. In this case, the risk may come from the least expected people around you:
Colleagues you spend day and night with, may report for a reward;
Roommates you share a rental with, may hold key evidence against you;
Landlords, security guards, or even convenience store owners, may become observers.
Simply put, trust has become the most expensive luxury, and this ubiquitous potential surveillance constitutes a huge psychological pressure and a real survival crisis.
Trend summary and core warnings
Overall, the current environment in the Philippines is extremely unfavorable for any activities related to underground gambling and scams. The core trends can be summarized in three points: normalization of high-pressure law enforcement, evolution of crime patterns, and nationalization of social supervision. For those still active in related gray areas, it is crucial to soberly recognize the following realities:
Imagining that "the storm will pass" is fatal, as the crackdown will only become more severe.
Technological upgrades make crimes more covert, but also make the evidence chain easier to track.
In the face of reporting rewards, interpersonal relationships are extremely fragile, and there is no absolutely safe haven.
The case in the Philippines also sends a strong signal to other global markets: when a country is determined to rectify gambling-related crimes, the comprehensive social measures it adopts may be more powerful than mere legal provisions. Paying attention to the PASA official website's global risk alerts helps to understand such deep social governance dynamics and personal risk boundaries.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original deep gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
