PAOCC: Deportation of all POGO workers seen by end of 2025 or earlier

THE PRESIDENTIAL Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) is expecting the arrest and deportation of all individuals involved in the continued operations of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) by the end of 2025 or sooner than anticipated.

This, as PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said over 1,000 POGO workers who are in government custody will be deported in two to three weeks.

On Nov. 5, 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) 74, ordering the immediate ban of POGOs, internet gaming, and other offshore gaming operations in the country.

During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing over state-run PTV-4, Casio said around 899 foreign nationals working in illegal POGOs are currently detained at the PAOCC’s detention facility in Pasay City, while an estimated 200 to 300 nationals are still in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

“Kung susumahin niyo po iyan, magmula January hanggang sa ngayon, we have more than 1,000, na-neutralize na po namin iyan. Kung may natitira pa pong 11,000 based on the records of the Bureau of Immigration, plus less 1,100, tayo po ay nasa 9,000 mahigit na lamang po (If you add that up, from January until now, we have neutralized more than 1,000. If there are still 11,000 based on the records of the Bureau of Immigration, less 1,100, only more than 9,000 are still there),” he said.

“We have a whole-of-government approach. Kampante kami na (We are confident that) towards the end of the year or earlier, maubos po natin sila (we will be able to eliminate them all),” Casio added.

Casio said the PAOCC, the BI, and the Department of Justice’s Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking are in close coordination to expedite the deportation process.

He said the public can expect the mass deportation of more than 1,000 illegal POGO workers within the month.

He said the arrested foreign nationals are from Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and China.

“We’re targeting to deport 1,000 POGO workers in two to three weeks’ time,” Casio said.

Casio also assured the public that the PAOCC and other concerned agencies will remain relentless in going after POGO “remnants.” (Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos)