Alien POGO workers who will stay in the country beyond December 31, 2024 will be arrested and deported.
During a meeting with members of the Immigration Press Corps, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado, who was accompanied by bureau spokesperson Dana Sandoval, said that foreign workers of all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) who fail to downgrade or leave the country by December 31 will be arrested and deported as soon as the clock strikes 12:01 of January 1, 2025.
Viado said that only about 12,000 to 13,000 out of the more than 30,000 such foreigners working in mostly Chinese-owned offshore gambling firms have voluntarily downgraded their visas to temporary visitor visas, enabling them to remain legally in the country but only until December 31, 2024.
“Those who fail to downgrade their visas before the October 15 deadline will be included in the BI’s blacklist and arrested, while foreigners who voluntarily downgraded their visas can have a chance to return to visit the country,” he said.
During his state of the nation address, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., has ordered foreign POGO workers to leave the country by the end of the year.
Viado said that despite the October 15 deadline, the bureau would still accept POGO workers who would apply for visa downgrading although they will be included in the BI’s blacklist.
POGO operations were banned after they spawned crimes like human trafficking, kidnapping and financial scams among others.
