MANILA - Offshore gaming operations are "very different" from Business Process Outsourcing that provide jobs for Filipinos and free from gambling, the president of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines said Thursday.

The BPO industry "generates a lot of jobs for Filipinos and are leveraging the talent that we have in the Philippines," CCAP president Jojo Uligan told reporters in a video conference.

BPOs also get accreditation from Philippine Economic Zone Authority while POGOs get their licenses from the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR).

"The things that we do is very different, from the registration and license to operate. The process that we do is very different compared to them," Uligan said.

"We generate a lot of jobs for Filipinos that’s one main differentiator. We are not involved in betting, gambling or betting. We don't do that in the BPO space," he added.

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The government recently allowed POGOs to resume during the COVID-19 quarantine period after PAGCOR said the firms could be considered BPOs.

POGOs are also not part of the IT-BPO headcount and revenue count with at least 1.3 million direct employees and $26.3 billion in revenues in 2019, the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippine earlier said.

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