New interior chief vows to ‘personally lock down’ POGOs

Metro Manila, Philippines — New Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has given himself until December to personally shut down Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO).

His pledge is in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to ban POGOs.

“I will get all the list of POGOs, and I will personally lock them down one by one, personally, lahat sila [all of them],” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Remulla, former Cavite governor, said the POGO hub in Island Cove will not be spared.

“It’s in my own province and the property used to be owned by my family. They will close down Dec. 15 for good,” he said.

‘Better’ anti-drug campaign

Remulla, meanwhile, lauded the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a “good job” in the anti-drug campaign of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He pointed out the high volume of drug confiscation in the past two-and-a-half years.

“I think EJK (extrajudicial killings) was not the solution. It did not increase the number of arrests. It did not decrease the number of drugs on the street. I think what the PNP is doing now is within accordance with [the] bounds of law and [in] accordance with the bounds of human rights,” Remulla said.

“I think what they’re doing now is better than what the previous administration was doing,” he added, referring to the Duterte presidency.

Removing ‘palakasan’ system

Aside from POGOs, Remulla also vowed to do away with the supposed “palakasan” or patronage within the police force.

He said a merit-based system should be in place to assess a police officer’s promotion.

“’I’ve tried my best in my province na walang palakasan du’n [to remove the palakasan system there], and I want to institute that in the Philippines,” the new chief said.

“The only way to do that is through monitoring records keeping and a fair amount of judgement to make it happen,” he added.

Digitalization, 911 response

Shifting to digital operations is also part of Remulla’s agenda.

Instead of personally going to municipal and city halls, he said people should be able to pay taxes or get a permit, among other transactions, online.

He said this will make public services more accessible to the public and at the same time prevent corruption.

Remulla also said he plans to institutionalize a nationwide 911 response system.

He noted the different response systems per local government.

“We are setting the terms of reference for that, and we expect to bid it out by July next year para [so it will be] codified na and unified para sa buong bansa [for the entire country]. We’ll start with the urban areas, and then the major tourist areas, and then expand it eventually to the rural areas,” he said.

In a turnover ceremony on Wednesday, Benhur Abalos passed on the leadership of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to Remulla.

Abalos resigned to run for the Senate under the administration coalition.

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“Ito na siguro ang pinakamahirap na posisyon na hinawakan ko: ang maging secretary ng DILG. Ngunit, mahirap man nalampasan namin ang lahat ng hamon, and I’m proud to say, it has been a successful term because of these people, because of this family,” Abalos said.

[Translation: This may have been the most difficult position I’ve handled: to be the DILG secretary. While it is hard, we hurdled all challenges.]

Abalos said he is happy to leave the department to a “capable” and “qualified” chief.