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RI5K5, GAINS OF POGO
OPERATIONS BOTH HIGH,
SAYS HOUSE LEADER
BY BERNADETTE D. NICOLAS
t @BNicolasBM
OUSE Ways and Mearis
Committee Chairman and
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda
said onWednesdaytheyareweigh-
ing the risks that may come witll
either allowing br banning Philip-
pine Offshore Gaming Operators
(Pogos) in the country.
ln a Palace press briefing, Sa!
ceda said they need to determine
thecorrect strategy in dealing with
Pogos besidestaxingthem properly
because this will definitely pose a
systemic risk, which may include a
possible glut in residential office
spaceif theiroperations are ordered
to stop,
The highest riskofan immediate
stop to Pogo operationt said Salceda,
istheblutespeciallyin offi ceaird resi-
dential condominiums lwhere rent-
ersl paid 12 months advancel'lfthe
following year finds no one to take
these up-"it has440,000 workers so
presumably, that!10 each divided
by two times 10 square meters. So
more or less, 1 million square me-
ters of residential office space/'that
would dealthe property sector a big
blow he said.
While they have yet to assess
the risks, Salceda said letting Pogo
operate in the country islhigh risk,
high return for the economy."
"Whai ii the risk? Are you will-
lng to take it [if] I I milllon square
meters of cqndominiums are sud-
denlyempty?Suddenlyemptyand
you did notprepareforit"Nowthey
acquire condo5 merethan BPOs.So
they have high return, high risks,"
he explained.
rhursday, septemb er re, 2ote
However,salceda said itis likely
that Pogos will not stay for long
because of china's policy against
gambling. 'Enjoy while it lasts and
prepare when they golhe said.
ln orderto monitorthe riskfrom
Pogo. he said the Philippine Statis-
tics Authority (PSA) must lnclude
Pogo under the Services sector in
the computation of grossdomestic
product.
He explained Pogo is only cap-
tured through its consequence; but
as an industry it's not included in
the income accounts.
Healso said he requested Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Ben-
jamin E. Dioknoto make a separate
- acEountof serviceexports for Pogo.
But in terms of returns, Salceda
pointed out that at present Pogos
are now breaching 1 percent of GDP
and payhighe/wagesthan business-
process outsourcing firms (BPOs).
Meanwhile, Finance Undersec-
. retary Karl Kendrick Chua said Po-
gos which still refuse to settle tax
liabilities of their workers will be
pddlocked.
ln a statement on Sundat the
Department of Finance has ordered
the Bureau of lnternal Revenue to
shut down tax-dodging Pogos due
to the"slow pace" of collections of
withholding income taxes from
Pogos despite the issuance of 130
letter-notlces to firms with com-
bined liabilitiesworth P21.6bililon.
"...We have an existing adminis-
trative regulation called Oplan
Kandado. lfyou refuse to pay your
proven liabilities repeatedly, then
we will apply the Oplan Kandado
fairly to anyone- who doesnl com-
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