Deportation of Jack Lam’s gaming workers starts

Arrested Chinese workers caught engaged in illegal online gambling in Pampanga. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION)

The Philippines has started deporting 1,316 Chinese workers who were arrested last year working at an illegal online gaming hub owned by Chinese gambling tycoon Jack Lam.

So far, the Bureau of Immigration has deported 259 of the Chinese nationals, sending them home in several batches from Dec. 20, 2016, to Jan. 17.

Antonette Mangrobang, spokesperson for the bureau, said on Wednesday the more than 1,000 Chinese illegal workers remaining would follow their deported compatriots.

“All of them have deportation orders already. The [bureau’s] intention is to deport all of them as soon as possible,” Mangrobang said.

She added that the speed of the deportations will depend on how soon the Chinese nationals can get outbound tickets to China.

Aside from informing the bureau of their departure details, the Chinese nationals are also required to secure clearances from the National Bureau of Investigation.

Mangrobang said the NBI clearance would indicate that they had no pending criminal cases in the Philippines.