Newborn baby of Chinese POGO workers among 33 deported 

A newborn baby of a Chinese couple working for one of the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hubs joined the batch of 33 persons deported on Thursday, according to a "24 Oras" report by Saleema Refran.

The baby was born in the Philippines after his parents were caught engaging in POGO but he will also be deported as the Philippine law follows “Jus Sanguinis” or the principle that one’s nationality is based on the nationality of one or both parents, and not the place of birth.

‘Kung mga magulang mo ay parehong Chinese, Chinese ka. Technically, kasi lahat ang mga yan will be treated as criminal suspects in China. So, they will all be charged criminally in China,” said Winston Casio, spokesperson of Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

(If the parents are Chinese, the baby is also Chinese. Technically, they will be treated as criminal suspects in China. So, they will all be charged criminally in China.)

More than 1,600 foreign POGO workers have been deported so far. They are also blacklisted or barred from entering the country anew.

The Philippine government has spent at least P85 million to care for those arrested in POGO raids.

“Ayaw nga natin magkaroon ng mga humanitarian crisis baka sabihin nila, hindi natin inoobserve yung human rights sa mga ito,” PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz. said.

(We don’t want to initiate a humanitarian crisis. They might assume we don’t observe the human rights of the arrested foreign POGO workers.)

Amid the nationwide banning of POGO, the government appealed to foreign POGO workers to voluntarily leave the Philippines so that they wouldn’t be deported.

“We will clarify with the immigration people kung ano ang rules na dapat gawin natin. Kasi, dapat yan in consonance with the December 31 deadline, at saka we don't want people to be panicking because they did an order without consulting us,”Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said. —Celine Serquina/LDF, GMA Integrated News