The Supreme Court has issued procedural rules governing the civil forfeiture of properties and other assets connected to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), following the enactment of a 2025 law that banned offshore gaming operations in the country.
The new Rule will take effect on August 24, or 15 days after its publication in two newspapers on August 9.
Under the procedure, civil forfeiture proceedings must be filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) that has territorial jurisdiction over the area where the POGO-related properties are located.
If some of the assets are located outside the Philippines, the forfeiture petition may instead be filed before the RTC of the City of Manila or the RTC with jurisdiction over the portion of the assets situated within Philippine territory.
The rules also require the government to provide a complete and detailed inventory of all properties connected to POGO operations that are being sought for forfeiture.
The petition may be initiated for the government “through the law enforcement authorities and/or any of the government agencies directly involved or that participated in the seizure, taking into custody, or investigation of POGO-related assets, as represented by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) or its deputized representative.”
The Supreme Court promulgated the Rule pursuant to Section 15 of Republic Act No. 12312, also known as the Anti-POGO Act. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the law on October 23, 2025, effectively prohibiting the establishment, operation, and conduct of offshore gaming activities in the Philippines.
Section 15 of the law calls for the forfeiture in favor of the State of buildings, facilities, materials, gaming equipment, paraphernalia and other properties used in POGO operations. It likewise instructed the Supreme Court to establish the procedural framework for the civil forfeiture of properties and proceeds associated with unlawful POGO activities.
In preparing the rules, the high court created a technical working group led by Associate Justice Raul Villanueva. Court of Appeals Associate Justices Emily Alino-Geluz and Mary Charlene Hernandez-Azura were designated as vice chairpersons.
The Rule covers properties, equipment, instruments and other assets owned or controlled by POGOs and their service providers. These include buildings and other structures, facilities, materials, gaming equipment and paraphernalia used in their operations.
However, the rules also contain safeguards against the improper forfeiture of property. They prohibit seizure “from an innocent owner, bona fide purchaser for value, or secured creditor, who establishes that he or she did not know and had no reason to know of the prohibited acts and did not consent to or participate therein.”