Gatchalian: DOLE to be tasked to aid Filipino workers if POGOs banned

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will be tapped to help Filipino workers who will be affected in case the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) are banned in the country.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, the lawmaker said that providing new jobs for the 16,000 Filipino POGO workers who may possibly be displaced should be given priority by the government.

“Ang importante diyan ‘yung ating mga kababayan hindi mawalan ng trabaho lalo na sa mga ganitong mga panahon. Kaya ang DOLE ay dapat atasan natin na maghanap kaagad ng kapalit na trabaho,” Gatchalian said.

(What is important is that our countrymen do not lose their jobs especially in times like these. Thus, we should task DOLE to find new jobs for them immediately.)

For his part, Senator JV Ejercito said getting rid of POGOs should be done gradually over the next three years.

"Some of my colleagues want it immediately banned due to social costs and POGOs being involved in criminal activities. And although I understand this has been addressed by the police and similar incidents have dwindled, there are actually 40,000 people employed by POGOs. 16,000 is just for a certain area," Ejercito said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

"Besides, POGOs occupy one million square meters of rented space, and the lease on housing is valued at P700 million a month. That is why we have proposed having a transition period and freezing out [the number of existing] employees until they land an alternative job in related businesses. Otherwise, the real estate industry will collapse," he added. 

But for House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, a total ban on POGOs is long overdue. 

"There are so many reasons to ban POGOs and ACT Teachers party-list and the Makabayan bloc's position remains the same: these POGOs should be closed. There are security concerns raised against POGOs that are still very much valid because these hubs can be used for the expansionist military and political purposes of  a foreign country, like China," Castro said in a separate statement.

She cited an incident in 2020 wherein the police were able to seize three.45-caliber and two 9mm pistols, around 65 rounds of ammunition, from the Chinese in a raid of an illegal POGO, 400 cellphones, 17 desktop computers, 36 laptops, nine modems, and around P1.3 million in cash. 

At least 73 Chinese passports were also confiscated, but the authorities could not immediately ascertain whether some were duplicates or if they belonged to those who were not in the house during the raid.

"With this bulk of evidence, it is either that this group is part of a criminal syndicate in China or part of covert operations to subvert our laws and sovereignty," Castro said. 

Castro also said that a Senate probe also revealed the concerns of POGO workers being used to do undercover work for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, especially when two Chinese murder suspects were caught by police in March 2021 with PLA identification cards.

"The supposed taxes we get from POGOs are mere peanuts as compared to the trouble they bring to our country. Truth be told, these POGOs are not only skirting their own national laws, particularly China that outlaws gambling, worse these violators are also gaming our laws, by among others not paying the proper taxes supposedly due to the government. It is high time that POGOs should be banned now," Castro added.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Friday the POGOs might no longer be worth allowing if their conducts bring social cost to the country considering the crimes linked to them.

While admitting that his administration is still determining whether the POGOs would still be good for the country, he said that only illegal POGOs are the problem as they were the ones usually involved in the abductions and killings.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate ways and means panel, said Sunday that a committee report on issues surrounding the POGO operations will be released this week. —KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News