Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda said professional poaching, not kidnapping, is truly what's happening and causing the controversy among Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country.

“Ano ba yung sinasabi nila na criminality? Ang nangyari lang dyan, may isang POGO, pinayreyt (pirated) yung workers dyan (What is the criminality that they're talking about? What's merely happening is, workers from a POGO are being pirated)," Salceda said in a recent news forum.

The House Committee on Ways and Means chairman was referring to an incident where some 200 workers from POGO in Angeles City were brought to Pasig City.

"Di na nga kasi nagpapalabas ng Mandarin- workers . So nung pinayreyt nung headhunter, nung recruiter, sinumbong. Syempre mga POGO workers dahil may batas sa China na bawal kang magsugal whether inside or outside China...sasabihin , 'I was kidnapped' (China has stopped deploying Mandarin-speaking workers. So when the headhunter or recruiter pirated them, they were snitched. Of course, since the POGO workers know that they're prohibited to gamble whether inside or outside China...they will say, 'I was kidnapped')," Salceda explained.

As such, the Bicol lawmaker prodded the government to tighten its rules covering recruiters for POGOs and stop them from poaching workers who are employed by competitors.

“It is human trafficking...’Hoy, kayo lahat, dun tayo, P2,000 a day dun, dyan P1,500 lang’. Di nagpuntahan na. E sinumbong ng isa. Saan ka nakakita na 200 ang kinidnap? ('Hey you, all of you, let's transfer there, they're paying P2,000 a day, here it's only P1,500.' And so they went. But one of them snitched. Where have you even seen 200 people get kidnapped?)" Salceda asked.

Salceda said the unsavory reputation of POGOs are due to the following interlocking problems of illegal POGOs that are not sanctioned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor): illegal working aliens and unscrupulous recruiters.

The solution, he said, is to tighten the enforcement of rules involving POGOs by keeping them in specific areas so that any POGO operation outside these POGO-specific areas is automatically considered illegal.

“Ringfence them and enforce the law. Keep them where they should be. If you’re outside POGO, you’re in flagrante delicto. Ibig sabihin may kasalanan ka kaagad, iligal ka (That means you're automatically doing something illegal). Pag ikaw ay isang POGO na nasa labas halimbawa ng isang (If you're a POGO outside a) zone for POGO like CEZA (economic zone), then you’re considered illegal immediately para (so that it's) easier to enforce,” Salceda stressed.

During the pandemic, POGOs brought in P32 billion a year to the Philippines, said the ranking House member.