Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to speed up the deportation of foreign nationals who previously worked for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
The senator’s statement follows a directive from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), which instructed the NBI to revise its clearance policy for foreign POGO workers awaiting deportation.
Under the current rules, the NBI requires deportees to present their passports to obtain clearance, but many had their passports confiscated by their former employers, causing significant delays.
Gatchalian emphasized that the BI and NBI should use alternative verification methods, such as fingerprint records, to address the issue and prevent further delays. Despite the ban, the deportation process has been slow, with only 3,024 of the 30,144 documented foreign POGO workers deported so far, according to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). Ram Superable
Senator Raffy Tulfo recently expressed concern that only 10% of foreign POGO workers have been deported since the ban took effect, urging agencies to act faster.