INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Chinese workers populate the ranks of many Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) since the industry needs Mandarin speakers, a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) official told the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
During the House committee on labor and employment’s motu proprio investigation into the Pogos’ impact on employment, Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop asked DOLE why many of these workers are non-Filipinos even if they conduct their trade in the Philippines.
In response, DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment chief Rosalinda Pineda likened it to the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, where the employees have to be well-versed in the language of customers. Pineda said that as many Pogo clients are Chinese, Mandarin speakers are needed to run the online gambling operation.
“Based on the operations of the Pogo, since this is an online gaming operation, and the clients are outside the country and most are Chinese, they would need employees skilled with that language, particular language. In fact, it is rare to find a Filipino knowledgeable in Mandarin, who could speak fluently, to answer the queries of their customers or clients,” she said.
“And besides, they are at the frontlines […] similar to the BPO industry, they are directly in charge of calls, or they are directly engaged as customer service associates or representatives of the Pogo itself. And therefore, only a few Filipinos are there,” she added.
When asked further by Acop whether Chinese nationals are indeed the top customers of Pogos, Pineda said that this is their understanding based on the talks with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
She also told Acop that before creating the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Employment of Foreign Nationals (IATF), they were unaware that Chinese Pogo workers started arriving in the country in 2003.
“That is what we understand, but we would also defer to what the Pagcor says because they are the ones actually giving the license and accreditation. But that was what we understood during the meeting: most of the clients of the Pogo are Chinese nationals that are not here in the Philippines,” Pineda explained.
As early as March 2020, Pagcor officials have admitted that only one-fourth of Pogo workers are Filipinos. All in all, 30,521 Filipinos were employed under the legal Pogo systems in place back in 2020 according to Pagcor.
Pagcor also showed that out of the over 120,000 Pogo workers in 2020, at least 69,000 were Chinese nationals hired for their language skills.
READ: 1/4 of registered POGO workers are Filipino, says Pagcor
When the side of Pogo companies was asked, the Association of Service Providers of Pogos (ASPAP) told the House that in their case, they have more Filipino employees than foreigners.
ASPAP is an organization voluntarily started by legal members of the Pogo industry, according to its spokesperson, lawyer Paul Bongco.
“We have around 128 offices scattered in Metro Manila, in Clark, and in Cavite, your Honor. The total office space that our members occupy is 400,000 square meters, and in our data, we are proud to say that for ASPAP we have more Filipino employees than foreign nationals,” Bongco said.
Recently, there have been fresh calls to ban Pogos due to the alleged criminal activities linked to online gaming operations. In the past two months, several police raids have led to the rescue of kidnapped Pogo workers.
READ: POGO shut down after rescue of 43 Chinese
READ: Kidnapped Chinese, 42 other POGO workers rescued in Pampanga — Abalos
Pogo’s tarnished image led several lawmakers to question whether the income obtained from the industry is enough to justify their continued operations.
READ: POGOs must go amid links to criminal activities — Rep. Abante
Some Pogo supporters claim that outrightly banning online gambling would do more harm than good, as it may just push operators to go underground — where games continue but the government ceases to collect revenue.
READ: Salceda: Total Pogo ban harms economy, gov’t should target illegal ‘actors’