{"id":777028491,"date":"2025-07-01T08:41:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777028491"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:24:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:24:44","slug":"pagcor-grants-nearly-us900k-for-repatriation-of-illegal-pogo-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pagcor-grants-nearly-us900k-for-repatriation-of-illegal-pogo-workers","title":{"rendered":"PAGCOR grants funds for repatriation of illegal gaming workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The grant will be used to cover repatriation expenses for foreign nationals held at the BI Warden Facility and Protection Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has approved a PHP50m (US$884,750) grant to the <strong>Bureau of Immigration (BI)<\/strong> to facilitate the deportation of foreign nationals employed by illegal gambling operators. The funding was formalised through a Memorandum of Agreement signed on Monday (June 30) at the PAGCOR Executive Office in Pasay City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amount will be released in two tranches of PHP25m each. The first tranche was disbursed during the ceremonial signing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alejandro H. Tengco<\/strong>, PAGCOR chairman and CEO, said the grant will help cover the repatriation expenses of illegal POGO workers currently held at the BI Warden Facility and Protection Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese individuals are unable to return to their home countries because they cannot afford a plane ticket,\u201d Tengco said. \u201cThis grant will ensure they receive assistance in accordance with international laws and humanitarian considerations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/07\/pagcor-2-900x505.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-777028492\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco and Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado sign the Memorandum of Agreement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: \u201cPAGCOR has been continuously collaborating with the BI in enforcing the government\u2019s ban on offshore gaming operations, following <strong>president Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.<\/strong>\u2019s directive last year,\u201d the PAGCOR chief said. \u201cThis inter-agency effort is not just about sending people home; it also ensures that only legitimate gaming operations are allowed in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSince I assumed the leadership of PAGCOR, I have always been open to help and collaborate with our partner agencies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe look forward to deepening this collaboration with the BI to help create a safe and progressive place for all Filipinos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFast-tracking the deportation cases of illegal POGO workers will help ensure a safer community for Filipino. The BI\u2019s partnership with PAGCOR is proof that our national government has the interest of the Filipinos at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/08\/Star-Entertainment-Group-losses-its-legal-claim-against-Chubb-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/3-bi-officers-under-probe-for-allegedly-helping-former-offshore-gaming-workers-evade-checks'>3 BI officers probed for allegedly helping former offshore gaming workers evade checks<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The grant will be used to cover repatriation expenses for foreign nationals held at the BI Warden Facility and Protection Unit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777028495,"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 Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has approved a PHP50m grant to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to cover repatriation expenses for foreign nationals employed by illegal gambling operators. This initiative supports the government's directive to ban offshore gaming operations and ensure only legitimate gaming activities in the Philippines. The funding will facilitate the deportation of illegal POGO workers, aligning with international laws and humanitarian considerations.","focusai_entities":"Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, Bureau of Immigration, BI, Alejandro H. Tengco, Joel Anthony Viado, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.","focusai_location":"Philippines, Pasay City","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Ban Impact","query":"What is the projected timeline for the complete eradication of illegal POGO operations in the Philippines, and what further inter-agency initiatives are planned to achieve this?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Evolution","query":"How will the intensified enforcement against illegal POGOs influence the future regulatory framework for legitimate iGaming operations and B2B\/B2C licensing in the Philippines?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[405,1205],"class_list":["post-777028491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pagcor","tag-pogo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028491","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\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777028491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777028498,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028491\/revisions\/777028498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777028495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777028491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777028491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777028491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}