Senator Win Gatchalian is advocating for a higher intelligence fund for the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid an ongoing campaign to ferret out Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) that continue to defy the government’s ban on their operations.

“The PNP needs funds to gather intelligence, particularly in the fight against POGOs,” Gatchalian said, as he noted that some POGOs are going underground and are masquerading into other businesses. 

“This is the time to support the PNP in gathering more intelligence,” he emphasized as he interpellated on the PNP’s proposed budget for 2025. 

Gatchalian took note that the PNP’s intelligence fund has gone down from P1.356 billion in 2023 to P906.025 million this year. Under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025, the PNP was given an intelligence fund of P806.025 million, which was increased by P100 million by the Senate. “The reduction is counter-intuitive on what we want to do,” he said. 

Given the President’s directive to terminate all POGO operations in the country by the end of the year, law enforcement agencies such as the PNP need to double down on their efforts to flush out all POGOs, particularly those that are involved in illegal activities such as kidnap-for-ransom, human trafficking, and online scamming, Gatchalian said. The total number of victims of POGO-related crimes stood at 5,800 as of May this year based on data provided by the PNP.  

He pointed out that Section 4 of Executive Order No.74 issued by the President last November 5 directed the PNP to intensify their efforts against illegal POGOs and internet gaming licensees and other offshore gaming operations and services.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Gatchalian has led the campaign to end all POGO operations in the country. He has maintained that the social costs of allowing POGO operations in the country significantly outweighed any economic benefits derived from the industry’s POGO operations.