Public memory and intermediary presentations long carried an image of the Philippine gaming sector as a place where offshore operator licences were perpetually for sale. That image died at the end of 2024: by Executive Order No. 74, dated 05.11.2024, the offshore regime in the Philippines was formally abolished. This page is deliberately honest about it: it does not sell hope in a regime that no longer exists. Instead it shows exactly what happened, what remains in force — domestic market licensing by PAGCOR only — and what a Georgian client holding a legacy Philippine structure, or having considered one, should do now.
Executive Order No. 74: How the Regime Ended
Executive Order No. 74, dated 05.11.2024, removes the internet-gaming licence category from the board: the offshore regime — known to the market and press as POGO/IGL — was abolished. The order's logic ran in two steps: operations were to cease by 31 December 2024, and in December 2024 the remaining licences were cancelled. The original text is published in the Philippines' official e-library (elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph), and the regulator's own site reflects the current state (pagcor.gov.ph) — those two sources are the basis for everything you read below.
What the Offshore Regime Was, and What Replaced It
The factual picture is simple. PAGCOR licenses domestic gaming activity in the Philippines; alongside it, the offshore regime — POGO/IGL — constituted a licence category for internet gaming serving operators outside the islands. EO No. 74 closed that category in full; what remains is what was always there — domestic-market licensing administered by PAGCOR. One piece of housekeeping matters here: everything about residual post-order licensing practice that is not on pagcor.gov.ph is unconfirmed — answers on that topic come from PAGCOR alone.
The Owner of a Legacy Structure: What to Do Now
If your chain includes a legacy Philippine structure, the task now has two halves: wind-down and migration. Wind-down means the structure's Georgian footprint — taxes, reporting, contracts — does not vanish with the jurisdictional death; it still has to be closed properly. Migration means the operational need for which a Philippine licence was chosen must now be matched against live regimes — and their comparison is run on our lead page about jurisdictions. Between the two halves, sequence is decisive: first the jurisdictional facts are closed, then the new plan opens — not the other way round.
The Georgian Layer: Winding Down a Legacy Structure Under Georgian Law
The Georgian wind-down of a legacy structure runs under the same norms that governed it while it lived. Article 80, part 7 of the Tax Code defines the margin — stakes received minus winnings paid — as the income-tax object of an individual organiser, and article 81 sets the rates, including the 5% line for excess income under a supply permit; that computation applies in the closing year as well. Article 8 governs player winnings and loss offsets. On reporting: if a Georgian entity was in the chain, articles 3, 11 and 12 of the AML law apply through to the final filings, and article 29(b) of the gambling law requires registration of winnings with reporting to the Financial Monitoring Service. And if the new plan touches the Georgian market: article 5, part 1 requires a permit for organising and supplying into Georgia, article 11, part 2 confines the permit to a registered entrepreneur, and system-electronic supply triggers the article 36-1 regime. Finally, Civil Code articles 951 and 952: a claim from a game arises only where the game is state-permitted — the legacy disputes of a closed regime do not break that limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Four questions come up often on the Philippines — every answer below traces to the two official sources.
Does the Philippine offshore licence still operate?
No. By EO No. 74, dated 05.11.2024, the internet-gaming licence category was closed; operations ceased by 31 December 2024, and the remaining licences were cancelled that same month. The regime has ended.
What remains at PAGCOR?
Domestic-market licensing — what PAGCOR has always administered. Information about a revival of the offshore category or residual practice must come only from pagcor.gov.ph or from PAGCOR directly.
I am offered an "active Philippine licence" — what do I do?
Check the two official sources: the text of EO No. 74 at elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph and PAGCOR's own page. For a regime cancelled in December 2024, an "active licence" rarely holds up — this is a typical market for stale or fabricated documents.
What does my legacy structure require on the Georgian side?
A proper wind-down: the final tax computation within articles 80 and 81, the final reporting under article 29(b) and the AML law if a Georgian entity was in the chain, and a review of the new plan — including comparison against live regimes.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Legal.ge takes the legacy Philippine structure question in two steps: first we fix the facts — the regime's termination dates from the two official sources and the actual status of your structure; then we build the wind-down and migration plan — the Georgian tax and reporting closure within articles 80, 81 and 29(b), the civil-risk review under articles 951 and 952, and where needed a comparative analysis against live jurisdictions. Our position on this page is open: you cannot build on an abolished regime; you can only close it properly and move deliberately. Contact us — we start by fixing the facts and finish with a working plan.