DMW, DOJ monitor Filipinos working in offshore gaming in Laos

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac gives updates on status of different Filipinos working abroad during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City on Oct. 12, 2024. PNA photo / Robert Alfiler

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are closely monitoring the situation of Filipinos working in offshore gaming operations in Laos, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said on Saturday.

“At patuloy ang pagma-manman ng sitwasyon sa mga Pogo [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators] workers. Mayroon pa kaming naiwan doon na mga Pogo workers na tinutulungan pa rin nila [Philippine Ambassador to Laos Deena Joy] Amatong,” said Cacdac in a weekly news forum.

(And we are continuously monitoring the situation of Pogo workers. There are still Pogo workers left there that are being assisted by Ambassador Amatong.)

READ: PAOCC arrests Chinese Pogo ‘boss of the boss’

According to Cacdac, DMW, DOJ, and other law enforcement agencies are running after the syndicates involved in recruiting Filipinos in the offshore gaming operations in Laos.

The migrant workers secretary also said that the syndicate was uncovered by Amatong after several Filipinos working for the offshore gaming operations returned to the Philippines.

Cacdac also shared that Amatong informed him that 160 Filipinos involved in offshore gaming operations have been sent home.

“And I think that the crackdown is important. That’s why we were working closely also with the DOJ. We ask for a statement every time a Filipino is sent home by the ambassador for our anti-illegal recruitment and after that, they identify a Philippine element or Philippine recruiter which we submit immediately,” Cacdac said in a mix of Filipino and English.

“We endorse this immediately to the DOJ for appropriate filing of complaints to the fiscal,” Cacdac added in Filipino

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said last Friday that the Philippines is cooperating with other countries to rescue human trafficking victims.

READ: 125 OFWs in ‘Golden Triangle’ cyber scam hubs in Laos back in PH

Espiritu also said that “there are counterparts of Pogo in other Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] member states.”

Meanwhile, 125 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were victims of cyber scam hubs in Laos previously returned to the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs said that the OFWs got involved in the operations of cyber scam centers at the Golden Triangle Economic Zone in Bokeo province in Laos.