House committee okays bill banning all Pogos
The House committee on games and amusements approved on Tuesday a bill banning Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) in the country to ensure that no “mutations” or similar establishments would be created in the future.
House Bill No. 10987 is a consolidation of several other measures, including HB Nos. 10725, 10636 and 10525 that seek to ban the conduct of all Pogo and Pogo-related activities. It was authored by the chairs and members of the quad committee, which is investigating the links among Pogos, drugs and extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration’s drug war, among others.
In sponsoring the Makabayan bloc’s HB 10525, Deputy Minority Leader France Castro pointed out that they have long opposed Pogos, which proliferated under the previous administration.
“Along with extrajudicial killings in the fake war on drugs and against critics, Pogo is a reeking legacy of the Duterte administration—a legacy that we should completely end, learn from and demand accountability for,” she said.
The ACT Teachers party list representative called for the repeal of Republic Act No. 11590, or the Pogo Act, and other related executive orders and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. regulations on Pogos as these provided legal cover for the crimes resulting from Pogo operations.
21K visas downgraded
During a hearing held by the House panel, Pio Rodulfo III of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) legal division reported that since President Marcos announced a total Pogo ban in July, some 21,757 foreign Pogo workers have had their work visas downgraded to tourist visas. Of the number, 10,821 had already left the country.
The BI previously urged these foreigners to voluntarily apply for a downgrading of their visas to allow them to remain legally in the Philippines until Dec. 31, the deadline set by the government for the cessation of all Pogo operations.
Those who fail to leave by then face deportation proceedings and blacklisting.
Representatives from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), meanwhile, assured the committee that several programs were in place for the 27,790 Filipinos directly affected by the ban as well as the 2,777 indirectly affected.
27 IGLs still operating
According to its Bureau of Local Employment, some 36,000 employment permits issued to foreign workers for licensed Pogos or internet gaming licensees (IGLs) have been revoked.
As of Nov. 18, there were still 27 out of 43 IGLs operating or in the process of winding down their operations.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, urged Dole to speed up the revocation of work permits to foreign Pogo employees.
Gatchalian, who had pushed for the total Pogo ban, said Dole must be “proactive” in deference to the President’s order.
“Pogo entities are morphing into something else so they could stay in the country and continue their scamming activities,” he said in a statement.
“We need a very proactive approach to cancel and eventually send these workers to their country of origin and we need the entire government machinery to work together to cut the legal basis for these individuals to stay in the Philippines,” he added.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on ways and means, also reminded Dole to help Filipinos who would be affected by the closure of Pogos to find new and better-paying jobs.
According to Dole, legal Pogos currently employ nearly 28,000 Filipinos.
“This is one of the things that we are worried about, the displacement of Filipino workers,” Gatchalian said.
“So I urge the department to continue with job fairs and other programs for local Pogo workers so that the displaced workers would be given meaningful jobs,” he added.
