Can Philippines’ new anti-Pogo playbook rein in fast-moving scam hubs?
The new inter-agency rules aim to give investigators a framework tailored to Pogo-linked crime and support a coordinated response
The rules aim to close gaps exposed during earlier raids, when agencies struggled to coordinate evidence, freeze assets, identify trafficking victims and build cases against operators who often left few physical traces.
Analysts and former officials said the bigger test, however, would be whether the new playbook could keep pace with criminal networks already moving from large compounds into more elusive operations.
The new Inter-Agency Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), approved on April 22, set out how the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) and other law enforcement and cybercrime agencies should gather intelligence, process digital evidence, handle victims and suspects, preserve assets and pursue prosecutions.