DOJ defers 60-day Pogo exit deadline set by BI

FILE PHOTO: Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla. Photo from DOJ’s Facebook page / Boying Remulla

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has suspended the 60-day deadline set by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for foreign nationals working in Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) to leave the country, citing the need to harmonize the government’s strategy in phasing out the controversial gaming industry by year’s end.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said the DOJ “held in abeyance” the BI’s order issued on July 24 or two days after President Marcos announced his directive to ban these businesses.

In his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 22, Mr. Marcos ordered a stop to all Pogos, noting how they had disguised themselves as legitimate entities while “their operations… ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder.”

Remulla said the BI “cannot act independently” on its deadline.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco also said the BI would revoke the working visa granted to foreign Pogo workers and deny both pending and new applications for visas for Pogo and internet gaming licensees (IGLs).

READ: Duterte’s order on offshore gaming ‘ill-advised’ – Enrile

Tansingco added that the bureau was expecting around 20,000 foreign workers in the gaming industry to “wind down their affairs” over the next two months.

The BI chief said he had also requested from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) a list of foreign nationals who work in Pogos but whose licenses were either suspended or no longer renewed.

“We will work on this information to further track down other foreign nationals who might still be staying in the country illegally despite the closing down of their companies,” said Tansingco.

To prevent ‘panicking’

According to Remulla, the “first option” for the foreign Pogo workers is still to voluntarily leave the country.

He said the DOJ would also seek clarification from the BI regarding the rules to be followed “because it has to be in consonance with the Dec. 31 deadline” set by the President.

“We don’t want people to be panicking because they did an order without consulting us,” Remulla said, noting that the BI would be part of the high-level meeting with other government agencies, including the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation today.

Remulla pointed out that, since the primary activity of Pogos was gambling, individuals often kept money in accounts managed by sales agents.

“This money has to be returned after the closure of the Pogo. That is important to prevent unjust enrichment on the part of the sales agents,” he stressed.

‘Corrupt’ in BI warned

“So, we will choreograph everything so everything falls properly into place until Dec. 31,” Remulla said, adding that the most critical thing was to implement the President’s order “without violating people’s rights.”

Remulla also stressed that they would discuss the scheduling of the proceedings as the government wanted to be “very organized” in the deportation or repatriation of the foreign nationals working in Pogos.

He warned “corrupt elements” in the BI not to take advantage of Chinese workers scheduled to leave the country.

“I will be frank with you. I hope they won’t think—there are many elements within the BI—to make a profit from this. These Chinese workers are leaving, and they will make money from this,” Remulla said.

“We already know this. There are many corrupt elements within the [BI]. They should not even consider this. Let’s help the President wrap up this problem,” he noted.

Pagcor Chair Alejandro Tengco earlier said he would also consult with Tansingco to discuss his two-month deadline since the President had given these companies up to Dec. 31 to close down.

According to Tansingco, the BI had deported more than 2,300 people working in scam hubs operating in the guise of gaming companies.

He said he had instructed the bureau’s intelligence division and fugitive search unit to intensify efforts to arrest those behind illegal online gaming hubs.

Pogo assets seizure

The BI chief said he shared the President’s view that the social costs of online gaming companies outweighed their benefits.

In support of this, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian clarified that Pogos last year generated only P15 billion—P10 billion to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and P5 billion for Pagcor.

“That’s less than 0.5 percent of our country’s total revenues. Pogos will disappear and we won’t feel a thing,” he said.

“Second, it only employs 20,000 Filipinos as compared to the 25,000 foreigners who are mostly Chinese. We have a P12-billion budget for temporary and cash-for-work programs,” Gatchalian added.

Gatchalian and Sen. Risa Hontiveros have been the most active lawmakers investigating illegal activities linked to the Pogo business.

As to the properties and funds to be seized from illegal Pogos, Hontiveros said the newly enacted Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Afasa) would allow the government to seize these assets.

Hontiveros said she was “pleased” that the Afasa law included her proposed amendment granting the government the authority to take over Pogo assets and properties.

“Now that the ban on Pogos or IGLs [has] been announced, several properties can be used and given to the victims of crimes linked to Pogos,” she said.

Priority bill

Sponsored by Sen. Mark Villar, the Afasa law, or Republic Act No. 12010, was among the priority bills of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council.

It aims to combat the surge of online scamming and mandates financial institutions to implement necessary safeguards to protect the accounts of Filipinos.

Hontiveros’ amendment states that “all properties, tools, instruments, and/or any other nonliquid assets used” in committing financial scams “shall be subject to civil forfeiture.”

The seized assets can be released to the DOJ “for operational support and victim protection, including victims of human trafficking.”

“The victims, rescued after a raid on the complex, run in the thousands per scam complex, and [the] government lacks the resources and capacity for operations and assistance,” Hontiveros said.

However, the release of the seized money needs a court order following a summary hearing and is subject to certain guidelines.

“This prevents the whimsical or improvident use of the monies and assets seized,” she explained.