The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) recently warned that a large number of foreigners arrested in the anti-POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) operations are still detained at the Pasay detention facility. Due to overcrowding, many detainees' health has deteriorated, with nearly 400 detainees hospitalized for illnesses in March alone.
It is understood that these detainees were previously arrested inside the Sunshine Building—a facility once used for online gambling. The building was taken over by the government after a police raid in 2023. However, due to slow deportation processes, a large number of foreign nationals remain in detention.
Officials have pointed out that the current detention environment is severely overloaded, leading to frequent respiratory infections, skin diseases, and other communicable diseases. Therefore, they are calling for an acceleration of the deportation process for detained foreign nationals to prevent further spread of epidemics and reduce the pressure on medical resources.
The Philippine government had previously promised to implement faster deportation measures, but as of now, many arrested individuals are still waiting for the final decision on their cases.
