PAOCC’s executive director says some small-scale operators remain.
The Philippines.- Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director under secretary Gilbert Cruz has said that he expects to eradicate illegal offshore gaming operators by year-end. At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, Cruz, said more than a hundred offshore gaming operators remain operating on a small scale after the ban that took effect in January. He said that only when the government removes these operators could it declare “zero offshore gaming operators” in the country.
Cruz said: “We are hoping that within the year at least, we will be able to totally stop or at least we will be able to reduce on a maximum scale this operation of illegal offshore gaming operators in our country.”
Cruz said most operators are now doing business from apartments, and condominiums, including from rooms in hotels or resorts.
Senator says Filipinos found working in offshore gaming operators should be arrested
On Friday (February 14), senator Raffy Tulfo called for Filipinos found working at offshore gaming operators to be charged. He claimed there is currently unfair treatment in raids since foreign nationals are detained and deported while Filipino workers receive government aid.
During a Senate public hearing, Tulfo said that a foreign worker, who was a victim of human trafficking and worked for an offshore gaming operator, and a Filipino worker contacted him through his radio show. They said foreign workers were jailed and deported, while Filipinos receive government assistance.
Tulfo added that both Filipino and foreign offshore gaming workers are involved in love scams that target locals and foreigners. He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) helps these workers.
Tulfo also claimed that only 10 per cent of foreign workers have been sent back to their countries. Before President Marcos Jr.’s order to ban offshore gaming operators, the sector employed 58,181 people, including 30,144 foreign workers. However, Arvin Cesar Santos, head of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Legal Division, said that the BI issued visa cancellation orders to only 12,106 and that only 3,024 have been deported so far.
Tulfo suggested that many foreigners may still be working illegally in offshore gambling companies. Santos said that the BI was improving its efforts to deal with remaining offshore gaming workers, but argued that there were challenges with logistics, detention and deportation. He added that since the start of the new year, authorities have arrested 438 offshore gaming workers.
PAOCC’s executive director says some small-scale operators remain. The Philippines.- Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director under secretary Gilbert Cruz has said that he expects to eradicate illegal offshore gaming…
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