AROUND 22,000 Filipinos working in legal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in Metro Manila might lose their jobs should the online gaming companies be banned in the country, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that last year, they inspected all the legally operating POGO firms in the National Capital Region (NCR) and based on the inspection, they gathered data for the profiling of workers who will be affected by the possible POGO ban.
“Meron tayong malaking hamon o suliranin na kakaharapin dahil kung tuluyang magsasara ang mga operasyon ng mga lehitimong mga kumpanya, siyempre mapipinsala ang employment ng ating mga manggagawa,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
He added: “Kaya nagkaron ng ganyang klaseng hakbang para makita kung anong klaseng intervention ang pwedeng ipagkaloob ng DOLE kung sakaling matuloy ang closure ng mga kumpanyang ito.”
Laguesma said that the priority for the profiling are Filipino workers who are working in about 50 legitimate POGO companies in Metro Manila.
He said that there are also POGO hubs in provinces, particularly in Central Luzon, but these are considered illegal as they are not registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said last week that there are around 300 POGOs illegally operating in the country.
Aside from Filipinos, the Labor chief noted that there are also thousands of foreigners who are working in the legal POGO industry who may be affected by the proposed ban.
From January to April 2024 alone, the Labor Department issued around 8,000 alien employment permits (AEP) to foreign workers employed in licensed internet gaming operators in the country.
Laguesma said that most of these foreign applicants were Vietnamese, followed by Chinese. There were also Indonesian, Thai, and other nationalities who sought permission to work in the online gaming industry in the Philippines.
Several lawmakers, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, have been pushing for the ban of POGOs in the country amid the crimes being linked to them.
Even the Chinese Embassy in Manila also said that POGOs should be outlawed as they have become havens for various crimes such as kidnapping for ransom, human trafficking, and murder. (GMA Integrated News)
