{"id":777022535,"date":"2025-02-03T10:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T13:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777022535"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:13:02","slug":"dole-reports-low-hiring-of-former-offshore-gaming-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/dole-reports-low-hiring-of-former-offshore-gaming-workers","title":{"rendered":"DOLE reports low hiring of former offshore gaming workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Over 5,000 job opportunities were offered at a job fair held last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has announced that\u00a0just <strong>100 people\u00a0<\/strong>were hired at <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-job-fair-offers-over-opportunities-for-former-offshore-gaming-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a fourth job fair<\/a> for workers displaced from offshore gaming operators in Pasay. The event was held at the SMX Convention Centeon on January 28 and 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Labour secretary\u00a0<strong>Bienvenido Laguesma <\/strong>expressed concern over the number since over 5,000 job openings\u00a0were available. He said 18,000 people signed up to attend but only 8,000 appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laguesma said many displaced workers were reluctant to return to work. Some hope for a lifting of the ban on offshore gaming operators, while others have already found jobs, and some think salary offers are insufficient. He said the government would continue to hold job fairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The DOLE has identified <strong>over 40,000 Filipino employees <\/strong>impacted by the shutdown of offshore gaming operators. They were employed in hubs in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Central Visayas, earning salaries between PHP16,000 and PHP22,000. The DOLE is offering financial aid of up to PHP30,000 to those who wish to start their own businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Philippine senators approve citizenship application allegedly linked to offshore gaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Philippine senators havegranted Filipino citizenship to the Chinese entrepreneur Li Duan Wang, also known as Mark Ong, despite\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-senator-calls-for-rejection-of-citizenship-application-for-alleged-links-to-offshore-gaming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allegations<\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>that Wang was liked to an offshore gaming operator hub in Porac, Pampanga. Nineteen senators, including senator<strong>\u00a0Sherwin Gatchalian<\/strong>, voted in favour of approving the application. Rita Hontiveros was the only senator who voted against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In justifying his decision, Gatchalian said: \u201cWhat\u2019s important here is that there were no derogatory reports, no negative reports about him. Second, he completed all the necessary legal requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: \u201cThey went beyond the minimum requirements. They asked for requirements from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Security Council. They also requested information from the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organisation). So, this is beyond the requirements because of the presence of these aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senator<strong>&nbsp;Joseph Victor Ejercito<\/strong>, said: \u201cBefore I signed, I checked with (Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission) chief Gilbert Cruz, who said that Mark Ong (Wang\u2019s Filipino name) is<strong>&nbsp;a long-time junket operator for casinos<\/strong>, not an offshore gaming operator. That is the information they have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ejercito added: \u201cIf he was here for just a few years, then he might really be part of an offshore gaming operator that entered during its peak. But he has been residing in Manila for several years. Mark Ong is also a long-time member of the Association of Fire Volunteer Chiefs of the Philippines, he is an active fire brigade volunteer according to [my] research.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over 5,000 job opportunities were offered at a job fair held last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777013862,"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 Department of Labor and Employment in the Philippines reported low hiring rates at a job fair for displaced offshore gaming workers, citing worker reluctance due to hopes for a ban lift, alternative employment, or insufficient salary offers. Concurrently, Philippine senators approved the citizenship application of Li Duan Wang, a Chinese entrepreneur, despite alleged links to an offshore gaming hub, with senators distinguishing his role as a long-time casino junket operator.","focusai_entities":"Department of Labor and Employment, DOLE, Bienvenido Laguesma, Li Duan Wang, Mark Ong, Sherwin Gatchalian, Rita Hontiveros, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Gilbert Cruz, Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission, Interpol, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security Council, Association of Fire Volunteer Chiefs of the Philippines","focusai_location":"Philippines, Pasay, Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Porac, Pampanga","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.8), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Shutdown Impact","query":"What specific government initiatives are planned to address the persistent reluctance of displaced POGO workers to re-enter the formal labor market, and what is the projected timeline for these programs?"},{"label":"Citizenship Due Diligence","query":"Given the allegations, what enhanced due diligence protocols were applied by the Philippine Senate and intelligence agencies in approving Li Duan Wang's citizenship, particularly concerning his alleged links to offshore gaming operations versus casino junket activities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[229],"class_list":["post-777022535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022535","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\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777022535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022550,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022535\/revisions\/777022550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777013862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}