The current situation in the Philippines is hard to assess. A lack of COVID-19 testing means that the 5453 positive cases the country knows about may be badly underestimating the situation. As many Filipinos continue to break quarantine, the online gaming and land based gambling industries are taking their best guesses at when a sense of normalcy might resume.

On April 15, Labor Undersecretary Dominique Tutay suggested that if the enhanced quarantine ends in early May, as is currently expected, Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators will be allowed to resume operations immediately. “POGOs will continue as long they are allowed by law. We will just continue our initiative to regulate and ensure that these firms are compliant with labor and immigration laws as well as payment of taxes,” Tutay said.

In the rest of the interview, Tutay hit on all of the typical POGO issues you’d expect to hear from a government official before there was a pandemic. She’s concerned about illegal immigrants and payment on taxes, mostly.

While it’s probably the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) ultimate call on what happens next with POGOs, the source we spoke to in the industry are already preparing for a return to the office. They hope to return to work in early May, as Tutay suggested they could, but expect a full return is more likely in June or July. Assuming that doesn’t happen, they are already preparing to conduct operations from home for several more months.