Senator Win Gatchalian urged the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to expedite the deportation process for foreign nationals who previously worked for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
“Government agencies must work together to deport foreign POGO workers quickly so that law enforcement can focus on tracking down those who still defy the President’s ban,” Gatchalian said.
The veteran legislator made the statement following a pronouncement by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) for the NBI to amend its policy on issuing clearances to foreign POGO workers who are up for deportation.
“Potential deportees can only secure NBI clearance by presenting their respective passports.”
As per NBI’s policy, potential deportees can only secure NBI clearance by presenting their respective passports. However, most of them had their passports taken by their previous POGO employers, leading to a significant delay in their deportation.
“In the absence of a passport, the BI and NBI should establish other means of verifying the identity of potential deportees such as utilizing fingerprint records taken by the BI.”
The seasoned lawmaker emphasized that in the absence of a passport, the BI and NBI should establish other means of verifying the identity of potential deportees such as utilizing fingerprint records taken by the BI.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means has strongly advocated for the termination of all POGO operations in the country, which eventually led to the imposition of a ban on POGOs effective December 31 last year.
The ban led to the deportation of foreign workers previously employed by POGOs.
According to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), only 3,024 foreign workers have been deported so far out of 30,144 documented foreign POGO workers.
