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11,254 foreign POGO workers face arrest, deportation -- BI

Philippines | National

11,254 foreign POGO workers face arrest, deportation -- BI

By Jeffrey Damicog

A total of 11,254 foreigners who worked for the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and have not left the country as of the Dec. 31 deadline will be arrested and deported, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Friday, Jan. 3.

“I have ordered our intelligence division to initiate the search for those at large,” said BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado in a statement.

Viado said: “They are considered illegal aliens now. Expect an intensified manhunt against these illegal aliens. The order of the President is clear. No more POGO in the Philippines. Foreign nationals who continue to disobey this will be arrested, deported, and blacklisted. No exceptions."

Last July, President Marcos ordered that all POGO operations cease by the end of 2024.

In compliance with the President's directive, the BI gave all foreigners working for POGOs until Oct. 1, 2024 to downgrade their working visas for temporary visitor’s visas that allowed them to stay for 60 days in the country.

Viado said that out of the 33,863 foreign POGO workers listed with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), 24,779 downgraded their visas.

A total of 22,609 foreign POGO workers left the country before the Dec. 31, 2024 deadline.

Viado said those to be deported will be those who did not downgrade and leave the country before the deadline, as well as those who downgraded but still failed to leave.

He said that companies are also obliged to surrender their POGO workers who remain in the country.

If the companies attempt to hide these POGO workers, they will be sued by the BI for harboring illegal aliens, he warned.

Related Tags

Bureau of Immigration POGO

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