Raffy Tulfo said that foreign workers are treated differently from Filipinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.- Senator Raffy Tulfo<\/strong> has 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said: “They are paid, they act in these scams, and then when they get caught, they are given assistance by the DSWD because they are labelled as trafficking victims. I want those people accounted for. Offshore gaming operators wouldn\u2019t function without Filipinos supervising operations. I want those people arrested when a raid is conducted, except for janitors, utility staff, and cooks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tulfo also claimed that only 10 per cent <\/strong>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<\/strong>, 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nConcerns over low number of deported foreign offshore gaming workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n