DOJ To Strengthen Crackdown Versus Illegal POGOs

The Department of Justice (DOJ) vowed to strengthen its efforts to crack down on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator firms amid plans to deport around 40,000 undocumented Chinese POGO workers.

“They can be stopped. If not, let’s fix the system so they will not bother our countrymen. We continue with the manageable POGOs. We have to put everything in order,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in a television interview Friday, Sept. 23, when asked about his stand on whether to ban or initiate reform on POGOs.

The justice secretary said they would consult with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to determine which are the legitimate POGOs.

“Ninety percent of them started as legal POGOs, that’s the estimate by PAGCOR. That’s why our income was high before, because they were paying the dues. When this figure dropped, Pagcor did an audit and saw they are not paying anymore. That’s the basis to declare them illegal,” Remulla said.

“But if they entered here illegally, that’s another matter. What’s showing here is that many of them who were legal became illegal because they stopped paying Pagcor and stopped paying their dues to the Philippine government. We have to close them down and send them home,” he added.

Remulla said they aim to start the summary deportation of around 281 Chinese POGO workers in the first week of October after they overstayed in the country as their visas have already expired. “Hopefully we will round up 500 people a day,” he added.

Police clearance

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started issuing national police clearances to employees of licensed POGO firms in the country as part of preventive measures amid the series of POGO-related crimes.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said police caravans for POGO companies – manned by officers and personnel from the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management – were deployed in Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Metro Manila.

PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin earlier said they want stricter measures imposed on POGO workers in the wake of the rising number of POGO-related kidnappings. 

Among these is requiring foreigners seeking work in POGOs to first secure national police clearances so authorities can monitor their activities.

In Central Luzon, Police Regional Office 3 regional director Brig. Gen. Cesar Pasiwen said that around 180 workers – mostly Chinese, Malaysian and Indian nationals – of Tele Empire located at Building 8314, Crown Peak, Upper Cubic, Subic Bay Freeport Zone were being processed for their clearance in Olongapo City, with the first 30 workers found without criminal records. People with existing records could not get clearances in any part of the country.

POGO ban

Senators urged the Marcos administration to focus on ridding the country of POGOs instead of just deporting their overstaying or illegal foreign workers.

“The POGO workers are not the enemy. The enemy here are the criminal syndicates in tandem with the system and policies that allow their modus to flourish. While criminal elements make money, the workers – Filipinos or foreigners – continue to be abused,” Sen. Risa Hontiveros said partly in Filipino.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III maintained that all POGOs must be outlawed, saying the reputational damage, criminality, corruption and other social costs inflicted on Filipinos far outweigh whatever projected revenues the government may raise from their operations.

“(The information) on which are the legal and illegal POGOs is not freely available. The Pagcor has a list (of legal POGOs) but it is not freely disseminated to law enforcement agencies,” Pimentel said on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

“So what happens to the crackdown when there is always this possibility that the entity or building you’re going to raid might be a legal POGO… there is a chilling effect,” he said.

Sen. Grace Poe has filed a resolution seeking a Senate inquiry into the social costs brought by the POGOs.

“There is an urgent need to evaluate the continued existence of POGOs in the country considering the deleterious effect to public safety and order in contrast with the supposed economic gains from their operations in the country,” Poe said.

Sen. Nancy Binay expressed support to ban POGOs even as she doubted their supposed economic benefits. She cited the statement of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno that the country can move forward without POGOs as it has already seen a decline in revenue generation. – With additional reports from Emmanuel Tupas, Ramon Lazaro, Ric Sapnu, Paolo Romero