Section
Longread
Composite-narrative longform reporting on gaming labor, policy, and the human side of the industry.
4 articles
Inside CEZA and Aurora: The Philippine Economic Zones That Defined a Gaming Era — and the One That Refused to Host POGOs
The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority were the two Philippine special economic zones that held independent gaming-licensing authority under the country's freeport framework. CEZA's position — that it never licensed POGOs, only its own iGaming framework under Republic Act 7922 — and Aurora's separate trajectory tell a quietly important parallel history of Philippine gaming policy that sits underneath the better-known PAGCOR narrative.
After the Bell: The Resurgent Underground of Philippine Cash Gambling
When the BSP ordered Philippine e-wallets to remove gambling links in August 2025, the licensed sector lost a quarter of its transactional baseline overnight. Where the displaced activity went — and where it always was — is the story of the country's parallel cash-gambling economy, the sari-sari store infrastructure that feeds it, the e-sabong shadow that never fully closed, and the Atong Ang case that anchors the political-economy backdrop.
From Pasay to Sihanoukville: A POGO Worker's Migration
When the Philippine offshore gaming industry was shut down in 2024, the buildings emptied. The workers had to go somewhere. A reconstructed account of one path from Manila to a compound on the Cambodian coast — and what the journey reveals about a regional labor market in transition.
Manila Bay at 4 AM: The Hidden Shift of IR Workers
When the high rollers leave and the floor lights dim, a different kind of labor begins. The human infrastructure behind a PHP 44.52 billion quarterly economy.