JV Ejercito backs deportation of ‘illegal, overstaying’ POGO workers
September 27, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito expressed
his support for the summary deportation of around 2,000 workers employed by
different Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) across the country.
In a statement, Ejercito warned that foreign
criminal syndicates have been taking advantage of POGOs to remain on Philippine
soil and conduct criminal activities in the country.
“These illegal and overstaying aliens should
be deported. In fact, there might be some foreign national syndicates who are
using the POGO business avenue to enter the country and conduct their criminal
activities here. Not just Chinese criminal syndicates, but also Cambodian and
Vietnamese criminal syndicates,” he said.
“The Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of
Investigation, and Philippine National Police NBI should work double time to
monitor and detect these kinds of operations,” he added.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had earlier
announced that it is planning to deport thousands of POGO workers by
mid-October.
This comes after the Philippine Amusement and
Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) terminated the licenses of around 175 POGOs
throughout the country.
The move, which was prompted by a recent spate
of kidnappings and other criminal activities linked to POGOs, is expected to
displace around 40,000 foreign nationals working in the country, most of whom
are Chinese.
Ejercito previously filed Proposed Senate
Resolution No. 194, which sought to direct the Senate Committee on Public Order
and Dangerous Drugs to conduct a probe on these “alarming” cases of kidnapping,
abduction, and disappearances, specially those against women, POGO workers, and
Filipino-Chinese individuals.
The said resolution highlighted the alleged
kidnapping of a Chinese national in broad daylight along the Skyway elevated
highway and the documented torture of a male victim whose ear was cut off.
The resulting investigation found that foreign
nationals have been employing private guards in possession of high-powered
firearms and using fraudulent identification cards and those belonging to
deceased individuals to stay in the country.
The lawmaker from San Juan said the national
government risks losing the confidence of investors and the rest of the
business sector if these security concerns are not addressed.
“Definitely, peace and order situation is the
biggest factor in having a climate conducive for business to grow for us to be
able to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. Kailangan po maganda ang peace
and order situation. Ngayon pa lang tayo nakakabuwelo after the two years of
lockdown in the pandemic,” Ejercito said in a previous statement.
