BI hunts down 11,000 foreign Pogo workers still in PH

POGO WORKERS DEPORTATION / DECEMBER 5, 2024 Around 190 Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators employees arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Terminal 1, Pasay City on Thursday, December 5, 2024, for the deportation back to China . The workers are from various POGO hubs raided by authorities in Pasay, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu and Bamban, Tarlac and Clark, Pampanga. Last November, the President signed Executive Order 74 ordering the ban on POGOs, internet gaming licenses, and other offshore gaming operations in the country. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is hunting down the remaining 11,000 Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) employees who did not leave the country by Dec. 31, the deadline for the nationwide Pogo ban.

According to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, 22,609 out of 33,863 Pogo workers have already downgraded their visas and left the country. But more than 11,000 remained and are now considered “illegal aliens” who can be subjected to arrest and deportation.

“This will be conducted as soon as possible. We’re currently initiating necessary action to start locating and arresting these illegal aliens,” Sandoval told the Inquirer in a message on Friday.

Order to companies

Sandoval explained the remaining foreign workers are mostly Chinese and Vietnamese nationals and that, per the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., their companies are located in the National Capital Region.

“Their information is with their companies. So the first step that we will be doing is compelling and instructing the companies to surrender these individuals to the bureau so they can be processed,” Sandoval told reporters in an interview also on Friday.

“If they do not surrender, we will conduct a manhunt and possibly arrest them, especially if they are engaging in smaller operations here, which is what we fear,” she added.

Deported, blacklisted

Sandoval said the BI is collaborating with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, local government units, and local law enforcement agencies to locate the remaining Pogo workers. She warned companies and individuals against harboring illegal aliens, as they may be held liable under immigration laws. She added that these workers will be blacklisted once they are deported.

Citing controversial cases of human trafficking, harsh working environment, tortures, and online scams by the mostly Chinese-owned Pogo industry, President Marcos issued Executive Order No. 74 banning Pogos and giving them until the end of 2024 to cease operations and move out.

The BI previously reminded the foreigners that they must downgrade their work visas to temporary work visas. They were given until Dec. 31 to do this and voluntarily leave the country.

“So whether you’ve been downgraded or not, you’re all illegal aliens now. You have to complete the entire procedure–downgrading and leaving the country. Downgrading alone is not allowed,” Sandoval said.

Critical weaknesses

At the Senate, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian backed the Office of the Solicitor General’s (OSG) move to have the birth certificates illegally acquired by Pogo foreign workers and owners canceled.

“I agree that these fraudulent birth certificates should immediately be tracked down and canceled so that these criminals will no longer have a basis to stay in the country,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

He pointed out that the government’s investigation of Pogos “revealed critical weaknesses in our processes,” particularly the acquisition of birth certificates through the late registration of births.

“This weakness enabled foreigners to become instant Filipinos without going through the naturalization process which in turn enabled them to buy properties and even start businesses,” he added.

Forfeitures

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier said the OSG would petition for the forfeiture of real properties and other assets that foreign nationals illegally acquired using fraudulent birth certificates.

Guevarra said there may be thousands of similar cases involving fraudulently acquired birth certificates in the hands of foreign workers or owners of Pogos.

Last year, the OSG petitioned to cancel the birth certificate of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo before a Tarlac court following revelations that she shared the same fingerprints as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping. Guo has been linked to alleged Pogo boss Tony Yang.

READ: BI to alien Pogo workers: 59-day leeway not for leisure, job hunt

Sen. Joel Villanueva said Guo’s case showed the severity of the problem of foreigners illegally acquiring Philippine citizenship, passports and government identification documents.

Earlier, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said many foreigners in the country are still using fraudulent birth certificates for illicit reasons.

—WITH A REPORT FROM JULIE M. AURELIO