Deportation of illegal Chinese POGO workers starts

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday started deporting Chinese nationals allegedly involved in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) operations in the country.

According to John Consulta's report on Balitanghali, eight Chinese nationals arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 for their flight back to Wuhan, China.

Of the eight, six were illegal POGO workers who were arrested in Pampanga on September 11, 2022, while the remaining two were arrested for being undocumented.

Before boarding their flight, the deportees underwent a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was scheduled to personally oversee the deportation of the foreigners.

According to Atty. Norman Tansingco from the BI, the two overstaying Chinese nationals even tried to block their deportation by filing a case against themselves since they cannot be deported if they have a pending case in the Philippines. However, the BI was able to iron this out.

The BI is currently holding over 400 Chinese nationals who are set for deportation. The second batch is set to be deported on the first week of November. —Sherylin Untalan/KBK, GMA News