Change in NBI policy sought for faster Pogo deportations
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has asked the National Bureau of Investigation to amend its policy on the issuance of clearances to foreign workers of the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) who are up for deportation.
“Unfortunately, the NBI has a policy that before they can provide an NBI clearance, potential deportees should present their passports,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said in a radio interview on Saturday.
“That becomes a problem because the passports of most of them have been taken by their companies,” Casio said.
In a Senate hearing on Thursday, Sen. Raffy Tulfo noted the slow deportation of foreign Pogo workers who had been arrested in a series of raids conducted to enforce the ban.
Mere 10 percent
Tulfo said only 10 percent of them had so far been deported since Dec. 31, 2024, or after the government-set deadline lapsed for Pogos to wrap up their operations.
Of the 30,144 documented foreign Pogo workers, only 3,024 individuals have been deported, according to an update from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
However, Arvin Cesar Santos, the legal division chief of the Bureau of Immigration, provided a different figure at the Senate hearing, saying more than 22,000 had been flown out of the country since the deadline passed.
Tulfo warned that delays in the deportations could create opportunities for corruption.
Casio on Saturday said the PAOCC had “already requested the NBI to remove that policy and let the document from the immigration [bureau], the entry records of the deportees from the Immigration, serve as proof of their identities.”
Illegal gambling websites
He expressed confidence that the NBI would grant the commission’s request.
Despite the Pogo ban, authorities continue to find establishments allegedly engaged in illegal online gaming.
A raid on Feb. 13 led to the rescue of 34 Indonesian nationals from a “Chinese-run” Pogo in Pasay City.
Also at the Senate hearing, retired Brig. Gen. Raul Villanueva, Pagcor’s senior vice president for security and monitoring, said the agency had discovered 276 illegal gambling websites since the start of the year.
They included websites for e-sabong (cockfights), online casino games and others. “Some of these are connected to Pogo,” Villanueva said.
