House Committee on Games and amusements chairman Eric Yap is backing the proposal to create communities for operators of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).

Yap, a representative of ACT-CIS Partylist said it will be easier for government to monitor POGO workers and deter commitment of crimes if hubs will be established for their operations.

“It will also be easier for the government to document and monitor the illegal entry of workers and the payment of their taxes,” he also said.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has earlier proposed the transfer of POGO workers in self-contained hubs.

The suggestion, however, did not sit well with the Chinese embassy, saying this “may infringe on the basic legal rights of the Chinese citizens concerned.”

While Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana also raised concern over the presence of POGO operators near military bases and camps, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra is not alarmed at all.

“As long as the Chinese strictly obey our laws and ordinances and respect our customs and traditions, and do not take away jobs that Filipinos themselves can do, I am not alarmed at all,” said Guevarra, adding, if POGO hub means something like an ecozone, I don’t find the idea objectionable.

He said that Filipinos migrate by the hundreds of thousands to other countries, but no one has expressed any serious concern at all.

The justice chief said the government is tightening up rules for the issuance of visas upon arrival for visiting Chinese nationals.

According to Yap, POGO workers should be required to secure necessary working permits and pay taxes, the same way overseas Filipino workers do.

He suggested that representatives from the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Departments of Labor and Employment, Foreign Affairs and the Philippine National Police should be present in the secluded communities.

“Their presence should obliterate any doubts on the protection of the fundamental rights of the Chinese workers and ensure that their liberties will not be taken away from them,” he said.

As the Chairman of the Committee on Games and Amusements panel, Yap said he will ensure that concerns surrounding POGO operations will be looked into and scrutinized.

A resolution urging Yap’s committee to probe the proliferation of POGO operations in the country has already been filed by lawmakers from the minority bloc.

In House Resolution 221, Bayan Muna partylist Representatives Carlos Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat directed Yap’s panel to look into the effects of POGO especially on the economy and national security.

The legislators said that while POGO is expected to generate revenues, it is hounded by issues on the monitoring of revenues and the entry of foreigners without valid work permits.

“There are also related serious issues of money laundering, usury or loan sharking, illegal immigration, human trafficking and other crimes,” the resolution read.

“Moreover, recent concerns over national security cannot also be ignored as POGO hubs are even established near military and naval installations,” it added.

Meanwhile, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles this week said the Congress should exercise its oversight function and look into the impact of POGO operations nationwide to national security and employment.