‘Fair’ rule for POGO workers pushed amid deportation
“DO unto” Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) workers what you would want foreign governments to do unto overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
This was the call of labor groups as the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced plans to deport at least 2,000 POGO workers by October as part of a “crackdown” on foreign workers who are still in the country illegally following the termination of their POGO firms’ licenses.
In a statement, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said that since the Philippine government demands “fair and equal” treatment for OFWs in their host countries, it should extend the same to foreign workers.
“TUCP calls on the government to pay equal attention to the plight of these foreign workers,” said Deputy Speaker and TUCP Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza of party-list group TUCP, “because we ourselves have also deployed millions of overseas Filipino workers and seafarers abroad.”
“Government must ensure the proper treatment of these foreign POGO workers in the same manner that we demand the proper treatment of our OFWs abroad,” stressed the labor leader.
Mendoza pointed out that “we have seen the horrific treatment of illegal and undocumented OFWs, and how extremely vulnerable our Filipino workers were, and are, in distant countries to abuse and draconian treatment from governments that regarded our OFWs as mere commodities.”
Expressing similar sentiments was Nagkaisa Chairperson Sonny Matula, who emphasized that, like many Filipino OFWs abused abroad, foreign POGO workers should not be considered criminals but victims of shady labor and business practices.
“To us in the labor movement, the most important aspect of that protection aside from due process is by not criminalizing the victims, for in many cases, migrant workers end up victims to onerous labor contracts if not outright trafficking by criminal organizations,” said Matula.
Matula explained that the Department of Labor and Employers (DOLE) needs to take a more active role in regulating POGO workers, as it is in charge of the registration and issuance of work permits to hold the employment of foreigners under the Labor Code.
The labor group urged the DOLE, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to collaborate to formulate a “coherent policy” on the POGO issue and involve labor organizations and migrant groups in that policymaking process.
The DOJ revealed that there are an estimated 40,000 POGO workers or Chinese nationals still in the country despite the termination of 175 POGO licenses.
Data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), on the other hand, show that there are a total of 120,976 POGO workers in the country as of 2020. Of the 120,976 foreign POGO workers, 69,613 are Chinese, 3,000 are Vietnamese, 2,400 are Indonesians, 1,700 are Taiwanese, and 1,200 are Malaysians, with the remaining number from 44 other countries.
