President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. banned all offshore gaming operators in the country during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, and ordered PAGCOR to cease the operations of offshore gaming operators by the end of the year, and directed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to assist the displaced workers.
At a public hearing of the Gaming and Amusement Committee, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco stated that the process will be implemented immediately after the president issued an executive order this month.
Tengco mentioned that in an inter-agency meeting and another meeting with licensees, it was agreed that the visas of foreigners working for offshore gaming operators will also be canceled.
"The Bureau of Immigration announced at the meeting that they will cancel the work visas 59 days before December 31. After that, there will be no more visas," he said.
Jessa Mariz Fernandez, Assistant Vice President of PAGCOR's Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, stated that the cancellation of visas will be done in batches, and it is expected that all POGO in the country will be canceled sooner than anticipated. "Some of the operations of licensed online gaming can be completed ahead of schedule. Initially, visas will be voluntarily downgraded until a certain date, when they will actually cancel all visas," Fernandez said.
"Through this process, their operations will gradually decrease before December 31, 2024," she said.
However, Tengco noted that some online gaming companies have already informed them that they will begin to reduce operations.
"We have been working hard. Two months after the SONA, we had 46 companies. Today, we only have 41. This means that the 5 companies we canceled due to a large number of violations have already disappeared," he said.
Deputy Minister of Labor Felipe Egargo Jr. assured that they will assist the estimated 28,500 Filipinos who will be unemployed from online gaming companies.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police has established a special task force, Schemer, to conduct law enforcement intelligence operations aimed at dismantling the illegal activities and networks of online gaming companies.
Police Colonel Jun Mark Lagare told the panel, "The task force is composed of CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group), ACG (Anti-Cybercrime Group), WCPC (Women and Children Protection Center), anti-crime group, and intelligence group."
The public hearing was in response to Senate Resolution No. 1083, which aims to ensure the proper implementation of President Marcos' directive to stop POGO operations.
