BI exec admits 40,000 POGO workers for deportation yet to be located

The Bureau of Immigration has yet to determine the whereabouts of the over 40,000 Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations workers who are reportedly facing deportation, an official admitted at a Senate inquiry on Monday.

BI Deputy Commissioner Fortunato Manahan Jr., chief of the Intelligence Division, answered in the affirmative when Senator Grace Poe asked if the bureau didn't know where the potential deportees were.

Manahan said that the pronouncement of 40,000 facing deportation "was based on the assumption that for every company, assuming there's 200 personnel."

"So that totals to 40,000. And recently, based do'n sa cancelled license ng PAGCOR, posted sa website ng PAGCOR, a total of 214 companies. We were able to list 48,762," Manahan said.

Poe cut him short and asked if this meant that the BI had no information on the whereabouts of the 40,000 Chinese workers.

"I just want to make sure that I have this right. You’re just making a calculation but you don’t actually know where those individuals are at this point?" Poe asked.

Manahan said, "Ah, yes."

"So, maganda lang yung statement na magde-deport tayo ng ganito karaming individuals, but actually, hindi natin alam kung asan sila at masasabi ko rin na marami sa kanila ay magtatago na," Poe said.

On Sunday, the BI said it was set to revoke 48,782 alien visas of Chinese nationals employed by POGOs with canceled licenses.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the cancellation of the alien visas would give the Chinese nationals 59 days to exit the Philippines, as a more “cost-efficient” and “humanitarian” option instead of deportation.

The BI is still in the process of verifying whether the nationals were still in the country or have already left.

Should they refuse to leave within the 59-day period, the Chinese nationals will be deported, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Philippine government last month announced plans to deport at least 2,000 POGO workers by October, in line with the crackdown on undocumented foreign workers in the country. number of terminated POGO licenses as declared on Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation's (PAGCOR) website.

"The 40,000 pronouncement of the secretary of Justice was based on the assumption that for every company, assuming there's 200 personnel (per POGO). So that totals to 40,000 based don sa cancelled license ng PAGCOR, posted sa website ng PAGCOR, a total of 214 companies. We were able to list 48,762," Manahan said. —NB, GMA News