AROUND 20,000 foreign workers of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) were told to leave the Philippines in 60 days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned their operations due to many crimes associated with them.
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said on Wednesday, July 24, that the order for thousands of foreign gambling workers to wind down their affairs and leave the country in the next two months also covers Internet Gaming Licensees (IGL) and its related service providers.
In his third State of the Nation Address, Marcos ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to close down all POGOs by the end of the year.
He also ordered the labor department to find new jobs for Filipino gambling workers who would be displaced by the closures.
Tansingco said pending and new visa applications by POGO and IGL workers would be denied by the immigration bureau.
He said they have a list of foreigners working in POGOs and IGLs, warning that violators will be subjected to deportation proceedings.
Tansingco also instructed the immigration’s intelligence division and fugitive search units to intensify arrests of violators at illegal online gaming hubs.
The agency said it has deported over 2,300 workers in illegal POGOs.
Socioeconomic Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Tuesday said the benefits of banning POGOs outweigh the losses to the economy. (ABS-CBN News)
