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Gatchalian: Gov’t to ensure jobs for 23,000 Pinoys if POGOs are banned
By GISELLE OMBAY,GMA Integrated NewsSenator Sherwin Gatchalian said Sunday that the government will make sure that the 23,000 Filipinos who may be affected should the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) be banned from the country will not lose their livelihood means.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate ways and means committee, made the remark amid calls to phase out the POGO industry due to its “social and reputational” costs to the country.
He said only around 20,000 of the 200,000 POGO workers are Filipinos, while the rest are already foreigners—most of whom are Chinese.
“‘Yan ang bibigyan natin ng focus. Hindi natin pababayaan ‘yung 23,000 na kababayan natin na nagtatrabaho sa POGO,” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
(That is what we will focus on. We will not abandon our 23,000 countrymen who work in POGOs.)
“Ang kagandahan, marami sa kanila ay IT experts kaya puwedeng lumipat sa BPO. Pero ganu'n pa man, sisiguraduhin natin na hindi sila mawawalan ng trabaho,” he added.
(The good thing is that many of them are IT experts so they can transfer to BPO. Regardless, we will make sure that they do not lose their jobs.)
It was the Association of Service Providers and POGOs (ASPAP) that provided data that more than 23,000 Filipinos will lose
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Despite this, Gatchalian expressed concern that the POGO industry still catered to more foreign workers than Filipinos.
“Ang nakikinabang pagdating sa trabaho, karamihan dito ay mga foreigners. Karamihan, mga Chinese din. Pagdating sa trabaho, hindi tayo… Kumbaga hindi pabor sa 'tin dahil ang binibigyan natin ng trabaho, ibang nationality,” he said.
(Most of those who benefit when it comes to POGO work are foreigners. Most of them are also Chinese. It is not favorable to us because those of other nationalities are the ones given work.)
During the Senate panel’s hearing on POGOs last week, Gatchalian slammed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) after its industry roadmap for the POGO sector was deemed by the lawmaker as lacking concrete details.
Real estate services firm Leechiu Property Consultants earlier said the country stands to lose over P100 billion should the POGO industry be forced out of the country.
On the other hand, Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said the country can recover the potential losses from the exit of POGOs if it attracts industries with high value added, higher technical requirements, and higher professional employment rate.
Gatchalian said the Senate ways and means committee will try to release its report on the costs and benefits of the POGO sector in the country before the year ends. —KG, GMA Integrated News