Foreign POGO workers face deportation

MANILA, Philippines — More than a hundred foreign workers employed by Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in the country are facing deportation for failure to secure alien employment permits (AEP).

Dominique Tutay, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bureau of Local Employment director, said they have submitted to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) a list of 126 foreigners who were found without AEPs.

“These 126 foreign nationals were not in the DOLE and BI records. Since we already submitted the list, it’s the BI’s call what to do,” Tutay said in an interview.

She noted that DOLE has no power to deport illegally working foreign nationals and could only submit the department’s recommendation to the BI.

Aside from the 126, Tutay said the number of foreign nationals who might be deported may still increase after DOLE completes its ongoing inspection of POGOs.

In October and November, a number of firms were inspected and found to have hundreds of employees without permits. ”We are validating this,” Tutay noted.

According to her, DOLE has set Dec. 15 as the deadline for the verification of those who have been issued and have yet to secure AEPs.

At this time, Tutay said DOLE is in the process of validating the list of foreign workers from 40 POGO service providers.

She said DOLE will come out with the official data on the number of foreign nationals legally working in POGOs by the end of the year.

“The next step for those who have not complied with the requirement is deportation,” Tutay explained.

She said DOLE is also asking for authority from Congress to close down firms found violating immigration and tax laws.