SURIGAO del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Wednesday urged the public to help report hiding illegal foreign workers of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Barbers took a cue from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to ban all POGOs in the country, as the Chief Executive delivered his third State of the Nation Address on July 22.
“Based on our ongoing probe on POGOs and illegal drugs involving Chinese nationals, we all know that a number of them, who have pending criminal cases from their countries of origin, are still in the country and would rather stay and hide here than face the risk of being deported and punished at home,” Barbers said.
Surigao del Norte, 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers. PHOTO BY ISMAEL DE JUAN
He said that the public may use social media platforms or directly report if there are “underground” POGO offices and workers in their localities to the concerned local government units, immigration and law enforcement agents.
The President wanted POGO operations to have stopped by the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Juan Ponce Enrile, chief presidential legal counsel, agreed with the POGO ban.
“I agree with the President,” Enrile said in an interview with the media at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
As to Executive Order 13 of 2017, Enrile said, without mentioning any specific part of the EO, that it was “ill-advised.”
“They did not study it well. My God, Pogo was banned by Cambodia, banned by many countries in Central Asia, and we adopted it here,” he said.
Section 3 of EO 13 of 2017 prohibited licensed gambling operators, “or provider of activities and services related to or in support of online gambling activities,” from allowing the placement of bets by people physically located outside the licensing authority’s territorial jurisdiction.
“Nothing herein, however, shall prohibit the duly licensed online gambling operator from allowing the participation of persons physically located outside Philippine territory,” the same EO 13 stated.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Public Order and Safety and the House Committee on Games and Amusements continued their joint hearing in connection with POGOs.
Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator Katrina Ponce Enrile, Enrile’s daughter, told the two committees that “there are no POGOs” in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport.
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