Chinese POGO workers composite image from INQUIRER file and stock photos
Ferdie (not his real name), an employee of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo), continues to work 12 hours a day, even after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s announcement on Monday banning the entire Pogo industry and giving it until the end of the year.
Ferdie was at his desk that night when Mr. Marcos declared the ban toward the end of his State of the Nation Address.
The news traveled quickly in the office. Later that evening, their Malaysian supervisor told everyone that their place of business “is no longer a Pogo but an IGL (internet gaming licensee). Therefore, we will get to keep our jobs. Everyone applauded,” he told the Inquirer in an interview on Friday.
The supervisor did not explain what an IGL was and no one among the workers bothered to ask.
READ: Hontiveros says Pogo probe ‘not over yet’: It’s not just about Alice Guo
On Tuesday, however, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Alejandro Tengco told lawmakers in a joint hearing at the House of Representatives that all 43 IGLs with valid licenses to operate in the country will also be covered by the ban.
Ferdie, 24, said he plans to save enough until December so he can leave his job and apply as a seaman in a maritime company.
Love scams
Ferdie’s current gig in Pasay City is already his seventh in a Pogo.
“There are various platforms. There are Pogos that specialize in love scams and cryptocurrency. These are the ones that make the news. There are also Pogos for online betting and online shopping,” he explained in Filipino.
He recalled once posing as a woman in a Pogo that engages in love scams. “My job was to make men fall in love with me. I worked with a live female model who shows herself on screen to make the guy believe he is talking to a woman. But it was actually me who was typing the messages and convincing him to send money,” he said.
Love scams pay very well, he said. “We were paid by commissions. It was easy to earn P100,000 on top of a basic salary. But that Pogo was dissolved.”
As a “receptionist” in his present job, Ferdie is required to maintain a herd of “likers”—netizens who are lured by the Pogo to send positive reviews for commercial products. The likers’ efforts are rewarded by e-cash that they will later be pressured into investing in the Pogo’s other businesses, Ferdie said.
“Once the likers are classified as investors and put in their e-cash, I turn them over to a group of Chinese supervisors,” he added.
Spammers
He said he was not familiar with how these investments operate. But he remembered one time when one of the “investors” tracked him down on Telegram and complained that he lost all his earnings and could no longer communicate with the foreigners.
“There are no cashouts. Everything is done electronically. Still, it is painful to lose money,” Ferdie said.
In his current setup, netizens are first lured by a group of spammers who offer monetary rewards if they submit positive reviews for products offered online.
“Anyone who agrees is then sent to me. In a month, I can get up to 200 ‘clients,’” he said.
He works in a building that accommodates other Pogos. “Our company’s head office is in India, that’s why the clients are paid in rupees.”
“A client can be given 20 tasks a day, whether for likes or reviews. Once their e-cash reaches 1,000 rupees, I turn them over to the Chinese operators who work in a different site. That is where they are pressured to invest,” he said.
‘Pogos pay well’
Ferdie credits his Malaysian supervisor for motivating the workers to save enough so they can find other jobs.
“Most of us here are young people in their 20s and 30s. I used to have a seatmate who had a degree in marine engineering. We prefer to work in Pogos because the pay is higher,” he said.
“I started out in June 2023 with a basic monthly pay of P21,000. They promised to increase our salaries by P1,000 a month. I now get P33,000,” he added.
There are downsides, though. Ferdie can only have two days off in a month. Aside from enduring 12-hour shifts, the employees are also required to surrender their cell phones to their supervisors during work.
Ferdie said he is worried about friends who have families since it would be harder for them to find new jobs.
“Pogos pay well. It would be hard for anyone who works here to go back to the minimum wage,” he said.