With just over half a month left until the December 31 POGO ban, the Philippine government started to panic!
Data shows that there are about 33,000 foreign employees registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), but only about 23,000 to 24,000 have voluntarily left the Philippines, with around 8,000 still remaining in the country, including nearly 1,000 whose whereabouts are directly unknown!
Despite repeated statements from the Bureau of Immigration, all POGO employees must leave the country by December 31, 2024, or face deportation, blacklisting, and a permanent ban on entry.
But! Alas, the pushers dare not easily risk going to a third country! Rather than worrying about being caught and deported when leaving the country, it's better to hide and survive day by day. Many pushers probably think this way!
Then the Philippine government got anxious. They started with the Chinese!
About two weeks before Christmas, many Philippine police officers began arresting Chinese people on the streets. Netizens reported that traffic police and PNP officers would immediately stop you to ask if you are Chinese, and if found to be Chinese, they would directly arrest you for immigration investigation.
Even some netizens were stopped three times in one day, and if it weren't for having legal status, they probably would have ended up being sent to immigration.
Moreover, some police officers, quite corrupt, knowing that some Chinese people had issues with their status, would stop them and impose a fictitious "fine (extortion)."
On the 23rd, Dana Sandoval, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Immigration, publicly stated on a TV program: "It is expected that about 7,000 foreign workers of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) will leave the country in the next few days." She reiterated the order to leave the Philippines by December 31 and to cease all POGO operations by the end of the year.
Worried that the pushers might not understand the implication, the spokesperson also said, "The departure deadline of December 31 will not be extended."
A few days later, considering that many pushers in the Philippines have already started families, the Bureau of Immigration stated that foreign nationals with families in the Philippines should leave as soon as possible to avoid being unable to legally return to the Philippines in the future.
"They should leave the country to comply with the downgrade regulations. When they have legitimate reasons to return to the Philippines, they can come back, because if they do not leave, they do not comply with the regulations, they will be blacklisted which means they will be prevented from re-entering the Philippines, making it more difficult for them to reunite with their families."
Does this mean that leaving is for a better reunion?
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the missing foreign POGO workers, POGOs disguised as BPOs, and CEZA remain unanswered.
Given the current situation in the Philippines, they seem to have figured out some routines of suspected wild POGOs. They also fully understand that those disguised as business process outsourcing companies (BPOs), POGOs, may also operate on a small scale in hotels, resorts, and residences within the zone.
The Deputy Chief Minister of PAOCC informed the media, "There are many signs indicating how to discover operations. If it's a house, the lights will be on 24 hours, there are many foreigners in the area, they always have food delivered, there is a lot of trash, they keep installing new internet connections. There are many danger signals, many indicators."
But for foreign workers within the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), as an ecological zone, it is not under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
Speaking of which, Little Ma previously said that CEZA should issue detailed rules on cleaning up POGOs, but the other party seems to ignore him. No response, no action.
Fun fact: CEZA is operated by the Enriles, and the powerful charter that grants them a certain autonomy was written by President Little Ma's chief presidential advisor Juan Ponce Enrile.
And this Juan Ponce Enrile is the current CEZA director Enriles's real dad!
Think about it, think carefully!
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Committee (PAOCC) has also recently made a statement, joining law enforcement agencies to intensify the crackdown on POGOs still operating after the December 31 government deadline. The head of PAOCC also said that they have received several reports. (Not sure if it's true)
The Deputy Minister of PAOCC stated: "We have obtained a list of small-scale offshore gaming companies and will include these targets in our raid plan."
According to him, the number of government-licensed POGOs has dropped from a peak of about 300 to less than 20, and a list of small POGOs to be raided has been compiled. It is expected that these remaining companies will all shut down by the end of the year.
And that's not all! PAOCC will launch a series of raids against illegal POGOs at the beginning of the year, further strengthening the comprehensive crackdown on the industry to ensure the complete eradication of illegal operations.
Yesterday, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) once again urged all foreign employees of Philippine offshore gaming companies (POGO), especially those with families in the Philippines, to leave the country before the final deadline of December 31, comply with government regulations, to avoid being blacklisted and banned from returning to the country.
Even the legislators couldn't sit still anymore, with Zhang Qiaowei submitting an anti-gambling bill earlier, and later legislators submitting five bills targeting some criminal groups exploiting loopholes in Philippine law:
Listing extrajudicial executions as heinous crimes and punishing them, while providing compensation for victims;
Banning all forms of offshore gaming operations within the country, with heavier penalties for violators;
Allowing civil forfeiture of real estate illegally acquired by foreigners;
Regulating the administrative cancellation of birth certificates fraudulently obtained by foreigners;
Punishing conspiracies and proposals to engage in espionage activities.
But what's the reality?
No matter how much they urge and sternly word it, this batch of pushers has made up their minds to take root in the Philippines and remain unmoved.
On the contrary, some Filipino employees who have worked in POGOs are starting to miss the good old days, and many have already started looking for jobs online privately.
Just recently, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration intercepted several groups of employees at the airport who wanted to work in Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.
But after all, is the number of 33,000 foreign POGO employees accurate?
According to PAOCC, this number is derived from the number of foreign employment permits (AEP) issued specifically for POGOs by the Department of Labor.
In fact, there are still many employees engaged in POGOs who do not have AEP.
Just the last two days, what if those 8,000 POGO employees who have not voluntarily left still do not leave?
The next step for the Philippine government, in addition to intensifying the crackdown, is very likely to extend this evil fire to other Chinese people!
