Foreign employees of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) have been given the deadline of October 15th to voluntarily repatriate.
The date was set by the “Task Force POGO Closure”, encompassing the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
After the October 15th deadline, foreign employees of POGOs currently holding 9G visas “will be downgraded to tourist visas and they would have to leave the Philippines within 60 days or face involuntary repatriation,” noted the DOJ in a release.
The task force met on Thursday to finalize the date, but Justice Undersecretary Raul Vazquez indicated that “this may just the first one” referring to the meeting, “in order for us to have a streamlined, systematic and efficient process of implementing the policy directive of our President”.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. deliver the order to shut down POGO operations in the country during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in late July.
POGO operations have been ordered to completely shutter by December 31st, with PAGCOR’s Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco warning that the Task Force will face an uphill battle in tracking down and closing all POGOS.
Tengco noted “POGO operators will try to employ dirty tactics to hide their illegal business”.
Currently 41 licensed POGO operators have indicated they will comply with the mandate to shutter.
The DOJ furthered that it will work with the Task Force to smoothly implement the POGO ban by the end of the year.
Justice Secretary Jesus Cripsin Remulla commented that “with the President’s guidance, we can now unleash the full consequences of the law against these undesirable elements of socity,” cited the Philippine News Agency.
While offshore gaming operations will be closed, authorities are working to assure Special Class Business Process Outsourcing (SCBPO) companies that they will not be affected by the ban and related Filipino workers will not lose their jobs.
Local POGO workers, which are estimated to total up to 20,000, will be able to transition their roles via a job fair scheduled by the DOLE for October 10th in Parañaque City.
