Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 28) — Malacañang is set to study the Senate’s report on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs, as it weighs on a possible ban on the controversial gambling firms.

“Isinumite natin kay Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin ang resulta ng ating POGO investigation. Dapat isiwalat ang katotohanan at unahin ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said in a Facebook statement on Thursday.

[Translation: We submitted to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin the results of our POGO investigation. The truth should be exposed and the safety of Filipinos must come first.]

Gatchalian—who chairs the Senate way and means committee—added that according to Bersamin, the executive department has been waiting for the committee report since the budget hearings last year.

“Pag-aaralan daw mabuti ng executive [department] ang mga recommendations ng chairman at titingnan kung paano nila i-implement ang mga recommendations,” he told reporters in a text message.

[Translation: The executive department will carefully study the chairman’s recommendations and look at how they will implement these.]

The senator has been seeking the immediate closure of POGOs in the country and the adoption of a resolution urging the Palace to ban these firms — saying money cannot outweigh the social costs.

With no Pagcor third-party auditor, Gatchalian says all POGOs should close