Monthly Archives: July 2020

Under the table tax payments cause new controversy for Philippines POGOs

Some Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) have been allowed to resume operation, but accusations quickly came that they hadn’t met their tax obligations. As several politicians and bureaucrats fumbled over the matter, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. has revealed that payments were made “under the table,” causing new calls for investigation.

“The tax-evading POGOs did pay out as you must suspect but under the table which puzzled them. Usually they line up in a revenue office and pay up but this was special: collector whose affiliation to any department was kept a mystery turned up himself like home pick up,” Locsin said.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) had previously confirmed that 11 POGOs had received clearance to reopen, a privilege that was to be reserved only for firms that had met all of their tax obligations. That news was met by claims from men like Senator Joel Villanueva that none of the POGOs had actually paid their taxes.

The mystery of who collected the payments, and who they’re working with, is now the hot topic of debate. Both the senate and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the agency that should be collecting the taxes, are being called on to open investigations. “The statement of Sec. Locsin confirms the illegal activity of POGOs in the country. If they are not paying taxes in BIR, then they are not paying taxes,” said Villanueva, an opponent of POGOs.

Simplex makes buying Bitcoin SV much easier

This is a guest contribution by Patrick Thompson, a writer with CoinGeek.com. Simplex has adopted Bitcoin SV support, and in the process has made it easier for users to buy Bitcoin SV and use it for buying, selling, and potentially gambling. This article first appeared on CoinGeek.com.

Simplex, the leading provider of global credit and debit card processing for digital currency exchanges, brokers, and wallets, has just added Bitcoin SV (BSV) support. 

“Through Simplex and its extensive partner network, it just became much easier for consumers in numerous geographic territories to acquire BSV by simply using a payment card,” said Jimmy Nguyen, founding president of the Bitcoin Association. 

Some of Simplex’s partners such as BiKi, Bitfinex, Bithumb, Bitmart, BitMax, CoinEx, Cross exchange, DigiFinex, Huobi, KuCoin, MXC, OKEx, and Poloniex, already support BSV.

The Brisbane Broncos slump to history making loss

Once the benchmark of the National Rugby League (NRL), the Brisbane Broncos have slumped to six consecutive losses. A loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs next weekend will see the club hit the bottom of the NRL ladder; something that hasn’t happened in 15 years of the competition.

It was scenes of carnage on the weekend as the Broncos were beaten by the New Zealand Warriors 26-16. Broncos captain Alex Glenn and halfback Brodie Croft were in tears at the fulltime whistle and were comforted by the opposition.

After losing to the Gold Coast Titans in round 7, the Broncos were expected to make light work of a New Zealand side without a fulltime coach and several players returning to New Zealand.

The Brisbane side were on track, leading at half-time before being overrun in the second half. The New Warriors came from behind to overrun the Broncos defence and record a memorable win. The Warriors ran in four second half tries to get over the line.

Collingwood AFL star charged with indecent assault

Things have gone from bad to worse for the AFL, with star Collingwood midfielder Jordan De Goey charged with indecent assault from an incident in 2015. Collingwood released a statement over the weekend in support of De Goey.

“At Collingwood’s insistence, and with full-co-operation from De Goey, the matter was investigated by the AFL Integrity Unit and Victoria Police in 2018. No charges were laid,” Collingwood said in the statement. De Goey will remain in the Collingwood football program while the legal process takes its course. Neither Collingwood nor De Goey is in a position to make further comment.”

DeGoey will still be able to train and be selected for Collingwood and is expected to re-join his side after passing two COVID-19 tests.

Victorian police spoke briefly on the incident to the media:

Premier League review – Gameweek #33

It was a highly entertaining weekend of fixtures in the English Premier League as Manchester United and Bournemouth shared seven goals, there were two vital wins for London’s most successful football teams and neither of this season’s challengers in the title race had it all their own way.

Manchester United 5-2 Bournemouth

A crazy game at Old Trafford ended in a seven-goal thriller that could have seen way more strikes hit the back of both nets than it actually did. From the kick-off, United were as exciting going forward as they were ramshackle at the back. It was The Cherries who drew first blood, scoring at the far post through Junior Stanislas as Victor Lindelof, captain Harry Maguire and David De Gea all had chances to block the speculative near-post effort at various stages of the ball squirming through United’s leaky backline.

In recent weeks, United have been as solid at the back as they have been reliable at the top of the pitch. They needed to up the attacking pressure on Bournemouth to an even greater degree than usual, but while in previous seasons, that may have been a task that posed more problems than were surmountable, this time around United were home and dry by half-time.