The Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have been urged to expedite the deportation of foreign nationals who previously worked for illegal 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,” Senator Win Gatchalian said on Thursday, lamenting the lack of passports among these workers.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) earlier called on the NBI to amend its policy requiring foreign POGO workers facing deportation to present their passports to secure an NBI clearance. Many of these workers, however, had their passports confiscated by their former employers, causing significant delays in the deportation process.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, stressed that in the absence of a passport, the BI and NBI should establish alternative methods to verify deportees' identities, such as using fingerprint records taken by the BI.
Gatchalian has long advocated for the termination of all POGO operations in the country. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. eventually approved a ban on POGOs, effective 31 December last year, leading to the deportation of foreign workers previously employed in the sector.
According to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), only 3,024 out of 30,144 documented foreign POGO workers have been deported so far.