The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is hitting back at an NGO’s legal challenge of its right to regulate Philippine-based online gambling operators serving international betting customers.

On Wednesday, local anti-corruption advocates at the Union for National Development and Good Governance-Philippines (UNLAD) filed a legal challenge of PAGCOR’s ability to issue new Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) licenses, the first 35 of which were awarded last week.

On Friday, PAGCOR issued a statement saying the POGO licenses were “within the bounds of its charter,” in keeping with its mandate to “operate, authorize and license games of chance, games of cards and games of numbers” in the Philippines.

UNLAD had claimed that PAGOCR lacked the authority to regulate online operators catering to gamblers outside the Philippines, but PAGCOR said “as long as the game is produced and its operation managed within the Philippine territory, it falls within PAGCOR’s jurisdiction.”