{"id":1586,"date":"2019-12-13T16:09:17","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T16:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:24:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:24:52","slug":"pogo-workers-id-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pogo-workers-id-gaming","title":{"rendered":"POGO workers will need an ID card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>All foreign workers will be issued with a Gaming Employment License ID card since January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Philippines.- Authorities demanded a new system to be aware of how many people working in the POGO industry is licensed. According to the vice-chair of the House committee on games and amusements, all foreign workers in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry will need Gaming Employment License (GEL) identification cards in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ID system will cost of Php 4,000 (\u20ac 70,84) per person, and will assist immigration and law enforcement personnel determine who is and isn\u2019t licensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe cannot pretend anymore that the POGO industry is small&#8221;, said  Ang Probinsyano Representative Ronnie Ong on the introduction of POGO IDs. \u201cWe should have a system to monitor them. That\u2019s why we are pushing for the GEL ID. The recent kidnapping incident of POGO workers in Makati [could have been prevented] if we have a monitoring system and if they have GEL ID&#8221;, explained in reference to the news that recently came out about a  high-profile kidnapping of a woman in Makati.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The video of the kidnapping has gone viral and comes in the same week as the Philippine National Police released new figures revealing&nbsp;there have been <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/kidnapping-gambling-philippines\"><em><strong>42 casino or POGO related kidnappings nationwide in 2019. <\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlso, this GEL ID will benefit the country because if we can monitor them, they will be able to pay the right taxes&#8221;, Ong concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All foreign workers will be issued with a Gaming Employment License ID card since January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Philippines is implementing a mandatory Gaming Employment License (GEL) ID system for all foreign workers in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) sector, effective January. This initiative, costing Php 4,000 per person, aims to enhance regulatory oversight, facilitate law enforcement in identifying licensed personnel, and improve tax compliance. The move is a direct response to the POGO industry's rapid expansion and recent security concerns, including a notable increase in POGO-related kidnappings.","focusai_entities":"Ang Probinsyano, Ronnie Ong, Philippine National Police, House committee on games and amusements","focusai_location":"Philippines, Makati","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO ID Enforcement?","query":"What specific enforcement mechanisms will be implemented to ensure universal compliance with the GEL ID requirement among foreign POGO workers, and what are the projected tax revenue increases for the Philippine government?"},{"label":"Regulatory Impact?","query":"How will the new GEL ID system integrate with existing immigration and labor regulations, and what is the anticipated response from POGO operators regarding the increased compliance burden and operational costs?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,154,16333],"tags":[512,128,1205],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gaming","tag-philippines","tag-pogo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1586"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1626,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions\/1626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}