According to current data from the Philippines, there are about 33,000 registered offshore gambling foreign workers in the Philippines, of which 23,000 to 24,000 have left the country after voluntarily downgrading their visas.
About 8,000 foreign POGO workers who have downgraded their work visas to tourist visas have not yet left the Philippines. There are also about 1,000 foreign workers who failed to apply for a downgrade in time.
According to Philippine officials, "After December 31, if these workers have not downgraded as required, they will be deported and banned from re-entering."
More than 150 small POGO enterprises are under close surveillance, paving the way for an upcoming comprehensive cleanup operation.
Recently, the Philippine government has continued to crack down, and two days ago, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Quezon City arrested a long-wanted South Korean man, who is alleged to be the leader of a large online gambling crime group and suspected of operating similar illegal POGO activities in the Philippines. The group has illegally profited nearly one billion US dollars through multiple platforms, but has successfully evaded pursuit by the South Korean police due to covert operations.
Recently, after receiving a report, the Bureau of Immigration also launched a large-scale raid in Pasig City, found luxury cars registered under the name of Pan Meishu (transliterated), CFO of Zun Yuan Technology Inc., and then arrested her in a hotpot restaurant in Pasay City on charges related to illegal offshore gambling operations.
This Zun Yuan, originally named Hongsheng Game Technology Company, is the POGO center in the former Banban Park area, under the jurisdiction of former Banban City Mayor Alice Leal Guo. Then, the Pasig Court immediately rejected Alice Guo's bail application for a qualified human trafficking case yesterday, Friday.
A series of cases demonstrate the Philippine government's zero-tolerance attitude towards the POGO industry.
As the Philippine government continues to intensify its crackdown on the online gambling (POGO) industry, some businesses and individuals who were once active in this field are facing increasing legal risks.
In order to protect themselves, various tricks are used, but they often backfire and lead to exposure.
In this environment, many people who relied on POGO business for survival, including gambling company bosses (known as "Pan Zong"), are also facing tremendous survival pressure. Some try to maintain company operations through improper means to evade regulation, even pressuring employees. However, these tricks often backfire, leading to employee whistleblowing.
For example, yesterday, a former employee of Phoenix Entertainment (ANVO Anbo Group) posted on social media that Phoenix Entertainment announced its closure on October 31. Many employees did not receive compensation as scheduled, and the company even threatened and forced employees to downgrade their visas and leave the country. Employees had no choice but to accept these unfair treatments.
"You are threatened in various ways if you are unwilling. If you have family members in other projects of the group, they will threaten you with your family members. If you don't get compensation, they ask you to downgrade your visa. If you don't downgrade, they threaten to force you to downgrade. Some who are dissatisfied with the compensation are dragged along with promises of resolution, leading to endless waiting!"
"Everyone's discussion is different. Some are given three months of compensation, some five months, and the most exaggerated is N+1 in the Taiwan region. You talk to the boss, and he sounds nice, but the next day he just kicks you out of the chat software, completely unable to log in, and in the worst case, the company just threatens you with your personal information..."
Taking advantage of the situation: Pan Zong kidnapping cases, chaotic fines by Filipino police
We have mentioned before that in the environment of the POGO ban, some people take advantage of the situation to make a fortune, with theft and robbery being just low-level crimes. More terrifyingly, various kidnapping cases have started to emerge recently.
Due to the outflow of foreign gray industry personnel, kidnappers in the Philippines have "reluctantly" shifted their targets to chefs and handrails, among others.
Recently, another POGO business owner became the target of gangs and criminals. A few days ago, in Parañaque City, six suspects wearing vests with "Police" written on them drove a Toyota Coaster minibus into the residence of a Chinese Pan Zong and forcibly took him away.
Rumors say that one of the kidnappers was once the security guard of that Pan Zong, and was seen contacting two of the victim's current security guards a few days before the incident.
"Inside and outside collusion" took only about 30 minutes to complete the entire crime process. Poor this Pan Zong, his whereabouts are still unknown, and his life or death is uncertain.
PS: Those kidnappers who specifically kidnapped women have just been deported!
Meanwhile, the Philippine police have also become unusually active in certain areas, targeting Chinese people who often have visa issues. They blatantly extort money from Chinese people under the guise of law enforcement! They don't give people a chance to argue, directly threatening to send them to the Bureau of Corrections.
Even if you have not committed any criminal activities and have a residential address, they still just extort money!
They target high-value businesses dealing in tobacco, mobile phones, and fireworks for inspection. Unfair law enforcement, abuse of fines, and extortion occur frequently.
What Ding, what MH, they just clear everything out! Absolutely corrupt!
The domestic situation in the Philippines is not optimistic
In the Philippines, in addition to the POGO industry, the overall social security and economic situation is also becoming increasingly severe. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), nearly 200 burglary cases have occurred nationwide since September.
For the rental market that relies on industries like POGO, the economic impact of the crackdown on POGO cannot be ignored. A large number of foreign workers leaving the gambling industry has caused the rental market to shrink, putting many landlords in a difficult situation, with a sharp reduction in stable rental income.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has also introduced policies such as half a bowl of rice and strict penalties for foreign workers.
Let's be practical, okay? Just relying on fines, judgments, and eating less cannot make the country and its people wealthy!
The minimum monthly salary for domestic workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) is set to increase again, but who is employing these maids? Isn't it the foreign personnel engaged in the gray industry?
But the Philippines has deported these gray industry personnel, sent them to sunny prisons, or many have fled or left. Who will hire these maids?
Is it like those seven unlucky dogs, hiring a maid to clean, and then being reported by the other party?
Finally, it should be noted that many dogs have already downgraded their visas and left the Philippines according to the POGO ban. But if the policies in the Philippines change in the future, can these people come back?
People on the Philippines' ALO list, if they downgrade their visas and leave, can they still enter the Philippines in the future by applying for other visas?
Emphasize! If you are on the ALO list and downgrade your visa and leave, can you re-enter the Philippines later? (The following content is suggested to be read word by word!)
1. If you are on the ALO list, generally, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration will record your information in its database. Therefore, even if you successfully downgrade your visa and leave, when you apply for a visa again in the future, the Bureau of Immigration may still find your record of being on the ALO list. At that time:
- You may be denied any new visas, especially tourist visas, work visas, etc.
- If there are special circumstances, such as legally clearing or removing from the blacklist, you may be able to obtain permission to enter again.
2. Procedures for removing from the blacklist:
- If you are on the ALO list but hope to re-enter the Philippines in the future, you usually need to apply formally to remove your name from the blacklist.
- The process of removing from the blacklist usually requires submitting an application, providing relevant proof, and needing approval from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration. The specific procedures and required time may vary depending on the case.
3. Impact on future visa applications:
- People on the ALO list, if their records are not cleared, may face stricter scrutiny when applying for any type of visa. The Bureau of Immigration may refuse to issue a visa based on their previous illegal or improper behavior.
- If there is a chance to be removed from the blacklist, it is recommended that applicants provide relevant remedial proof or an apology letter, indicating that their behavior has been corrected.
4. Impact after downgrading the visa:
- If the person who downgraded the visa and left is not on the blacklist, but their historical record still exists, future visa applications may be affected. The Philippine Bureau of Immigration may conduct special scrutiny based on their historical record.
The Philippine Bureau of Immigration conducts strict scrutiny of personnel related to POGO, especially those who downgrade their visas and leave. If these people were previously blacklisted for illegal activities or improper operations, even if they later legally downgrade their visas and leave, they may still face the dilemma of being denied entry in the future.
If you are on the ALO list, even if you downgrade your visa and leave, you may not necessarily be removed from the ALO list. If it is found that your POGO was involved in confirmed criminal activities or you were found to have participated in criminal activities, even if you downgrade your visa and leave, it is very likely that you will not be removed and may still be blacklisted. Once there is a problem with the visa, even if you leave, you are still an unwelcome Chinese person.
To avoid this situation, these people need to take measures, such as clearing the blacklist record or obtaining approval from relevant departments, to regain entry qualifications.
Currently, you can inquire through the official website of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration: https://immigration.gov.ph, call the official phone (+63 2) 8465-2400 or (+63 2) 527-3257, entrust an agent or lawyer to help you inquire, or contact the Philippine Bureau of Immigration by email.
Note: Not only criminal records can lead to being blacklisted. If you violate visa regulations, stay illegally, or engage in illegal activities, you can also be blacklisted.
Under the current strict crackdown by the Philippine government, if you want to return to the Philippines in the future, it depends on whether you can successfully "whiten" yourself and clear your bad records.
