Tulfo sounds alarm; only 10% of Pogo workers were deported after deadline

PENDING DEPORTATION An immigration agent watches over the 32 foreigners caught at a gaming hub in Parañaque City. (Photo from BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Raffy Tulfo sounded the alarm Thursday as only 10 percent of foreign Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) workers have been deported even after the lapse of December 31, 2024 deadline.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on games and amusement, it was revealed that as of August last year, there were 58,181 Pogo workers nationwide, of whom 30,144 were foreigners.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Pogo ban last year, giving them until the end of last year (Dec. 31, 2024) to wrap up their operations.

READ: 2024, the year of reckoning for Pogos, IGLs

BI Legal Division chief Arvin Cesar Santos said of the 30,144 foreign Pogo workers, the bureau issued visa cancellation orders to only 12,106 of them.

Pressed by Tulfo on how many of the 30,144 Pogo workers are now out of the country, Santos said the BI has only deported 3,024 of them.

Tulfo asked: “(Just) 10 percent lang? Why is that?”

“Those, Mr. Senator, are apprehended and arrested by various operations by BI and/or PAOCC (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission),” Santos replied.

Tulfo then floated the possibility that the remaining foreigners are still operating Pogos illegally.

“So ibig sabihin, meron pang gumagala gala dyan o baka nag-o-operate pa rin illegally. Meron tayong 27,000 foreign national na nagwo-work sa Pogo at hindi nyo na-account kung nasaan sila?”

(So meaning, there are still [foreign Pogo workers] still going around or operating illegally. We have around 27,000  foreigners working in Pogo and you have not accounted for where they are?)

Santos noted that the BI is bolstering its operations against the remaining Pogo workers, but he noted that there are “challenges in terms of logistics, detaining them, and actual deportation.”

“The first operation since the start of the New Year, 438 yung na-apprehend namin,” Santos said.

(We have apprehended 438.)

Tulfo concluded: “Thank you sa apprehension nyo (for your apprehensions). But still, this is alarming.”