PAOCC to build Pogo foreign workers database to aid deportation

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) will compile a database of foreigners working for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos) to help in their subsequent deportation.

PAOCC Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz revealed this a few hours after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a ban on Pogos in his third State of the Nation Address. Marcos gave concerned government agencies until the end of 2023 to wind down offshore gaming operations nationwide.

According to the PAOCC official, the five months given to them by Marcos would be sufficient to achieve their goal.

“This five-month period provides ample time not only to identify the bosses but, more importantly, this will be enough to create a database of all foreign nationals working in these companies,” Cruz said in a statement released Monday evening.

READ: Marcos bans Pogo, cites ‘disorder’ it caused PH

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“This database is crucial to ensure that all Pogo workers will be subsequently deported to their countries of origin,” he added.

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Cruz likewise said that PAOCC will promptly collaborate with the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Bureau of Immigration, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Philippine National Police, and National Bureau of Investigation in implementing the Pogo ban.

READ: Pagcor to act on Pogo ban; 42,000 Filipino workers to be displaced

He believed that the President’s Pogo ban directive aimed to end the proliferation of gambling activities that became an avenue for Pogos to cover their alleged crimes.

“Rest assured that PAOCC and the other law enforcement agencies will continue to neutralize the scam farms that are still operating,” Cruz added.

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