The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it will help expedite the departure of foreigners working with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) or Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs).
BI Officer-in-Charge Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the bureau and other government agencies decided “to conduct service days for POGO or IGLs companies where we will implement their downgraded visa status and exit clearances.”
Representatives of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will also join to receive surrendered alien employment permits of foreign workers, Viado said.
He reiterated the announcement of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that all foreign POGO or IGL workers are given until Oct. 15, 2024 to voluntarily downgrade their visa status.
Those who failed to comply with the deadline will be ordered to leave the country within 59 days, he said.
He warned that if the foreign workers fail to leave on or before Dec. 31, the BI will initiate deportation proceedings against them.
As of Sept. 24, Viado said the BI has downgraded 5,955 visas and 55 percent of those with downgraded visas have left the Philippines.
Those who refused to leave starting Jan. 1, 2025 will be arrested, deported, and blacklisted, he warned.
Viado said that representatives of various government agencies met and tackled the issue on the closure of POGOs in the country.
Aside from the DOJ, DOLE, and BI, the other agencies are the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).