OF the more than 30,000 registered foreign workers of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), more than 10,000 have already left the country in compliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to stop all internet gaming operations by end-December, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado disclosed on Tuesday that of the 21,757 foreigners associated with POGOs — also known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) — who voluntarily downgraded their work visas to temporary visitor’s visas — 10,821 have left the country.
Viado said that the BI wanted to ensure a smooth and orderly process for affected foreign workers, hence the reminder to meet the deadline.
Bureau of Immigration. File Photo
“We expect that around 20,000 more foreign POGO workers would leave the country in the next few weeks to beat the Dec. 31 deadline,” he added.
President Marcos’ order to ban all POGOs during his recent third State of the Nation Address was sparked by the criminal activities attributed to the illegal online gaming operations, including kidnapping, murder, human trafficking and prostitution. The President’s operations ban covers both the legal IGLs and the illegal POGOs.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. records show that there were a total of 30,445 foreign workers by license POGO or IGL and 31,322 Filipino workers.
Of the 30,445 alien workers,12,315 are Vietnamese; followed by Chinese, 7,870; Indonesian, 4,786; Malaysian, 1,716; Burmese, 1,696; Thai, 843; Taiwanese, 497; Korean, 272; and others, 450.
Visa downgrading allows foreign nationals to revert their status from a work visa to a temporary visitor visa, thereby enabling them to remain legally in the Philippines for 59 days or until the end of the year while winding down their affairs.
Viado warned that violators will be subjected to deportation proceedings.
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