Politicians look for eternal fountain of cash. MLQ had the shoes of the troops earning him 50 centavor per pair care of Ang Tibay. Presidents from Roxas to Macapagal had some freebies from Jueteng operators originally ran by Chinese operators. Marcos Sr had PAGCOR thru a presidential decree (FM had penchant for legality. Everything under Martial Law was covered by a myriad of executive issuances: General Orders, Letters of Instructions, EO, IRR, Circulars, Arrest and Search/Siezure Orders or ASSO (only implementable by JPE) and of course the infamous PDs (backed up by the equally notorious Amandment No. 6). Monies from gambling are channeled to photo-ops semblance for social justice. Pagcor franchises morphed into presidential fiats sans local intervention. Casinos mushroomed wherever untouched by local dynasties out to extract a pound of balato (in the form of signing privileges and free parking). Erap had his Atong Ang’s Bingo Two Balls. One Bonito Singson delivered on a regular basis sack full of cash at Malacañang. At Sandiganbayan, Erap denied touching public funds but implied receiving jueteng inteligencia monthly funneled to his New Manila Boracay mansion. In the dying days of the rapacious GMA regime, the First Hubby fronted the Pagcor chair as shareholder of at least 3-5% interest (as saliva capital) that they enjoyed as you are reading this. Pagcor parlayed administrative franchises to Genting Resorts World, Okada, Solaire and City of Dreams. Nobody questioned the franchises peddled by Pagcor. Even the judges and justices enjoyed freebies from the palatial casinos that altered the landscape of Stonehill’s reclamations absorbed by the Sys. With this template, PNoy runners dribbled the STL franchises (which are supposed to be raffled off to qualified operators nationwide where provinces are divved-up into smaller STL areas purportedly to even up the odds tilted in favor of the poor bettors). The giants of jueteng (Bong Pineda et al.) organized themselves and irrigated the Office of the Executive Secretary of retainers (alá lawyers) in amounts they can’t refuse. For six years the EO languished in one drawer of the OES, a lawpartner of one Atty Liza Araneta-Marcos. Rodrigo Duterte came and he was presented with the idea of POGOs by his financiers prior to his running for the presidency (Think about how gamblers take their chances: And they won). POGOs are ostensibly a call center. Prior to Duterte(in the advent of IT) we were introduced to the call center industry. We got used to it where our youth tweaked their circadian rhythm and made them walking time bombs. As long one can communicate, nocturnal jobs sprouted everywhere. Comes Duterte and his coterie of shysters headed by one Michael Yang. The Chinese invented POGOs as bait to hungry/greedy PH politicians exemplified by the Marcos and Duterte families. For 36 years from 1986, China in its telescopic vision trained an Alice Guo to be Mayor of one quaint Tarlac town in 2022. The second biggest POGO hub was built behind Bamban municipal building. Guo, while fluent in Pilipino, has difficulty pronouncing the letter R. As a technique, she protrudes her tongue wherever a word has a letter R in it. Her POGO appears to be an ostensible online gambling station but an armorized military hub a stone’s throw away from Clark Airbase. POGOs, while illegal in China, get a makeover as pseudo military base useful to China. Local politicians close their eyes on the national security threat these gambling hubs pose as long as their monthly cash retainer is delivered thru the banking system thru their lawyers. Remember our Anti-money laundering law has a unique provision that stops an investigation at the doorsteps of a law or accounting firm: “Lawyers and accountants acting as independent legal professionals are not required to report covered and suspicious transactions if the relevant information was obtained in circumstances where they are subject to professional secrecy or legal professional privilege.” With Apps supplied by the POGOs, vote buying thru GCash or similar bank remittances is a breeze. -- Image credit - https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/11/19/1969931/editorial-no-value-added