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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.

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