The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Friday, that it is set to deport a total of 11,254 foreign nationals who were involved and work in Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) throughout the nation.

According to BI Commissioner Atty. Joel Anthony Viado, 24,779 out of the 33,863 POGO employees under PAGCOR, had already downgraded their visas, and a total of 22,609 had left the country before the 31 December deadline.

Atty. Viado said that those who did not downgrade and left the country before the deadline, as well as those who downgraded but did not depart the country, will be deported.

The BI Chief further stated that companies are obligated to surrender any POGO workers who remain in the nation and warned them that if they try to hide those individuals, they may face charges for harboring illegal aliens.

Atty. Viado disclosed that he had already given the order for their intelligence division to start looking for those who were still at large.

He added that since the compliance deadline has passed, they are now considered illegal aliens.