DOJ says no reports yet of bribery from POGO employees

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday said it has yet to receive reports that some employees of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) have attempted to bribe government employees to prevent their deportation.

“To answer your question, wala pa naman kami na receive na report doon sa sinabi ninyo na nag offer ng suhol,” Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said at a public briefing.

[To answer your question, we have not received any reports of bribery.]

Despite this, he said the DOJ will conduct an investigation once the reports have been submitted to the agency.

“Pero, once na dumating ‘yan sa atin, of course, we will conduct the necessary investigation, the necessary procedures will be put in place para ho hindi mangyari yung ganong bagay,” he said.

[But once this is submitted, we will conduct the necessary investigation [and] the necessary procedures will be put in place so this kind of thing will not happen.]

Meanwhile, Clavano said the DOJ is also looking into the possible transfer of employees from illegal POGOs to legal POGOs.

“‘Yun po ang inaaral natin sa Bureau of Immigration (BI) kung paano ‘yung magiging proseso nun dahil mangagaling sila sa mga ilegal na POGO,” he said.

[This is what we are looking into at the BI on the process because they will come from being illegal POGOs.]

“Kailangan muna natin aralin yun. Ang policy na sinet ng DOJ sa start ay bumalik muna sila sa China bago sila bumalik dito at ma-employ sila sa mga legal POGO company. Pero dahil marami na humingi ng tulong para mag transfer sila, inaaral namin yan,” he added.

[We need to study this. The initial policy set by DOJ is for them to return to China before they can be employed at a legal POGO company. But because a lot of them have asked for help, we are studying this.]

Clavano said a total of 1,424 visas of illegal employees have been canceled.

The BI seeks to cancel more than 48,000 alien visas of Chinese employees of POGOs with canceled licenses. — RSJ, GMA News