DILG secretary says 47 offshore gaming operators still operating in the Philippines

Authorities will begin inspections on December 15 to ensure compliance with the ban.

The Philippines.- Jesus Crispin Remulla, secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), has said that 47 offshore gaming operators are still operating in the Philippines. He said the DILG will begin site inspections on December 15 to ensure operators are in the process of winding down activities following the ban issued under Executive Order (EO) 74.

“They should show that they are winding down their operations. We are also accounting the visas of foreign workers, mostly Chinese nationals,” he said in a television interview. “These two are interconnected. Once POGOs cease operations, they should leave the country because they do not have a valid working visa anymore.”

In October, Remulla said the DILG was “mounting guerrilla operations” because some Filipinos had learned to set up their own offshore gaming firms. In November, he called on mayors to regularly check business establishments to ensure that they are not operating as illegal offshore gaming operators.

The Bureau of Immigation (BI) has reported that approximately 20,000 foreign offshore gaming workers are expected to leave the country by December 31. As of November 7, 21,757 foreign nationals linked to offshore gaming operators had voluntarily changed their work visas to temporary visitor visas and 10,821 had already left the country.

In October, the BI issued cancellation orders for 12,106 people who had not voluntarily downgraded their visas. They must leave the country by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the DOLE has announced that a job fair for workers who have been displaced from internet gaming licensees (IGLs) will be held on December 6 in Calabarzon. Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) director Patrick Patriwirawan said the department is assisting former offshore gaming workers in processing their applications for unemployment insurance benefits, with 435 people having applied so far.