Manila, Feb. 15 -- The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said it is hoping to weed out all illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) by the end of the year.

At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, PAOCC Executive Director, Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, said only more than a hundred POGOs are operating small-scale in the country after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s total ban on POGOs, which took effect in January.

Only when the government stamps out all these operators could they declare "zero POGO" in the Philippines, Cruz said.

"Ang tinitignan namin, siguro within the year at least talagang totally ma-stop na namin or at least mabawasan na namin in a maximum scale itong operation ng illegal POGO dit...