NinoGaming POGO Ban Philippines: Executive Order 74, Its Dates and Its Limits

Until 2024, PAGCOR licensed companies to run online casinos from the Philippines for players abroad. The POGO ban Philippines order ended that business, and it changed what a “PAGCOR licence” claim can honestly mean.

Every date and rule below comes from the text of Executive Order 74 on the Official Gazette or from PAGCOR’s own notices. For how the rest of the market is licensed, see the online casino Philippines market overview.

The POGO ban Philippines timeline

Date	What happened	Source
22 July 2024	Ban on POGO and internet gaming operations announced in the State of the Nation Address	Executive Order 74, recitals
23 July 2024	PAGCOR’s offshore licensing head issues a memorandum after the address	PAGCOR press release, 27 July 2024
5 November 2024	President Marcos signs Executive Order 74 in Manila	Official Gazette
15 December 2024	All internet gaming licensees and authorized providers cancelled	PAGCOR offshore gaming notice
17 December 2024	Island Cove hub in Kawit, Cavite formally closed	PAGCOR press release, 18 December 2024
31 December 2024	Deadline for every POGO and internet gaming operation to cease and wind up	Executive Order 74, Section 2(d)

PAGCOR also warned in July 2024 that a memo telling Metro Manila local governments to shut POGOs “within the first week of August” was forged. The real deadline was always the end of the year.

What Executive Order 74 bans

Section 2 of the order sets out four parts to the ban.

1. Illegal operations. Offshore operators without a licence are classed as illegal gambling under Executive Order 13 of 2017 and left to law enforcement.
2. No new licences. Applications for new POGO, internet gaming and related licences are no longer allowed.
3. No renewals. Existing licences are not renewed or extended.
4. Cessation. Every licensed POGO and internet gaming operation, including ancillary services, must cease and wind up by 31 December 2024.

The order also set up two technical working groups. PAGCOR chairs the group on employment recovery for displaced Filipino workers, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) chairs the group on illegal offshore operations.

Who the order covers, and who it does not

The order’s coverage is narrow by design. Offshore gaming is defined as livestreamed e-casino games, online RNG games and online sports betting offered exclusively and directly to players located outside the Philippines.

Covered by the ban	Outside the definition
POGO licensees, their gaming agents and service providers	Games of chance in PAGCOR-operated casinos
Internet gaming licensees, local gaming agents and authorized providers	Games in licensed casinos
Offshore licensees of economic zone, tourism zone and freeport authorities	Integrated resorts with junket agreements

Local online play is regulated through a different department. PAGCOR’s Electronic Gaming Licensing Department licenses eCasino, e-bingo, sports betting and online poker for PAGCOR-licensed gaming venues and their online platforms, and that licence type is still listed on PAGCOR’s regulatory site.

What changed for players in the Philippines

For a player inside the country, the ban changed three practical things.

1. An “offshore” or “internet gaming” licence is now a warning sign, not a credential. PAGCOR calls any current claim to one fraudulent.
2. The licence to look for is a local one, checked against PAGCOR’s lists of registered brands and domain names.
3. No newer offshore licence exists to point to. The order stopped new applications and renewals alike.

The six checks for the best online casino Philippines players can run start with that licence lookup.

Enforcement and closures

PAGCOR reported the Island Cove compound in Kawit, Cavite shut on 17 December 2024. It described the 33-hectare site as the largest POGO facility in the country, with 57 buildings and 30,000 workers at its peak, half of them Filipino.

PAGCOR’s chairman said approximately 40,000 workers were affected by closures nationwide. He added that operations continuing after the ban would be handled by law enforcement, including the PAOCC and the Philippine National Police.

Red flags to watch for

Offshore brands did not all disappear on 31 December 2024. PAGCOR’s chairman said illegal operators had moved to smaller sites. These signs suggest a site is one of them.

1. It claims an offshore, POGO or internet gaming licence from PAGCOR.
2. It shows a PAGCOR seal but its domain is not on any PAGCOR list of registered domain names.
3. It lists a licence from an economic or freeport zone authority for offshore play, which Executive Order 74 also covers.
4. Its terms name no company, or name a company that does not match the PAGCOR listing.
5. It asks for deposits to a personal account rather than through a named payment rail.

Where NinoGaming stands

PAGCOR’s list, as of 27 August 2026, registers www.ninogaming.com under Gemini Gaming Management Corporation, an accredited Gaming System Administrator serving the domestic market. No account was opened there, so nothing behind its login was checked.

Run the PAGCOR domain check on it as you would on any site. The PAGCOR license explainer covers what a valid local licence includes, and is NinoGaming legit, checked step by step records what could be confirmed. For venue play, which the ban did not touch, see the land based casino Philippines page.