House leader seeks fair treatment of POGO workers

A House leader representing labor groups has called on the government to exercise fair treatment of Chinese employees of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

House Deputy Speaker Democrito Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) party-list made the call in light of the Philippine government's plans to deport at least 2,000 POGO workers by October as part of crackdown on undocumented foreign workers in the country following the termination of their POGO firms’ licenses.

“TUCP calls on the government to pay equal attention to the plight of these foreign workers because we ourselves have also deployed millions of overseas Filipino workers and seafarers abroad," Mendoza said in a statement.

“Government must ensure the proper treatment of these foreign POGO workers in the same manner that we demand the proper treatment of our OFWs abroad,” he added.

Mendoza cited that undocumented OFWs have been at the receiving end of horrific treatment, abuse and other draconian policies from foreign governments.

His sentiments were echoed by Sonny Matula, chairperson of Nagkaisa, a coalition of labor groups, saying that POGO workers should not be considered criminals, but victims of shady labor and business practices.

“To us in the labor movement, the most important aspect of that protection aside from due process is by not criminalizing the victims, for in many cases, migrant workers end up victims to onerous labor contracts if not outright trafficking by criminal organizations,” Matula said in a statement.

Matula then suggested that the Department of Labor and Employers (DOLE) needs to take a more active role in the regulation of POGO workers, as it is in charge of the registration and issuance of work permits to regulate the employment of foreigners under the Labor Code.

He then urged the DOLE, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Migrant Workers to work together to formulate a coherent policy on the POGO issue, and to involve labor organizations and migrant groups in that policymaking process.

The Justice department estimates that there are around 40,000 POGO workers or Chinese nationals still in the country even if the license to operate of 175 POGO companies have already been terminated.

Records of state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), on the other hand, show that there are 120,976 POGO workers in the country as of 2020.

Of the 120,976 foreign POGO workers on Pagcor records, 69,613 are Chinese, 3,000 are Vietnamese, 2,400 are Indonesians, 1,700 are Taiwanese, 1,200 are Malaysians, with the remaining number from 44 other countries.

House ways and means panel chairperson Joey Salceda of Albay earlier suggested that POGO operations should be limited within POGO-specific zones that are ring-fenced from the rest of the country.

"New licenses will be in these zones, and existing licenses will be allowed only to complete their leases. Any offshore gaming that operates outside such zones will be considered illegal and offshore gaming outside these premises can be arrested in flagrante delicto – without need for much further investigation," Salceda said.

"That way, we also limit needless interaction with the sector, and can keep its clientele as exclusively foreign," he added. —KG, GMA News