{"id":9382,"date":"2020-08-26T22:35:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=9382"},"modified":"2026-04-24T02:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:23:17","slug":"new-bill-to-regulate-pogos-foreign-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/new-bill-to-regulate-pogos-foreign-workers","title":{"rendered":"New bill to regulate POGOs’ foreign workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Foreign nationals would not be able to be employed without the Department of Labor\u2019s authorisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Philippines.- A new bill to regulate foreign workers in the Philippines introduced in Congress this week could have a significant impact on offshore gaming operators (POGOs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the bill is approved, any foreign national seeking to work in the Philippines would need permission from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which could only be granted if there are no suitable Filipino workers for the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign workers would also be prohibited to change positions in the same company or transfer to another company without DOLE approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill sets penalties for hiring foreign workers without proper authorisation and for failure to transfer skills and technology to nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Joel Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Committee, sponsored Bill No. 1778 in a bid to regulate the influx of foreign nationals looking for work in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech Villanueva stressed the \u201cFilipino First Policy\u201d was not working to create job opportunities for Filipinos, especially following the reduction of the job market due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Manila Bulletin, he said foreign workers were selected for jobs as agents in call centre agents, electrical technicians, tour guides, machine operators and construction workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also mentioned the \u201cvirulent mushrooming\u201d of POGOs that frequently violate labour regulations and in many cases kept operating even under the restrictions of community quarantine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOLE cancelled the work permits<\/a><\/em><\/strong> of workers employed by POGOs that were not allowed to reopen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilanueva believes the DOLE should adopt a more stringent process for vetting of foreign workers not just in POGOs, but in all industries, and that this would eliminate ambiguities in current permissions from the Bureau of Immigration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foreign nationals would not be able to be employed without the Department of Labor\u2019s authorisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"A new bill in the Philippines proposes stringent regulations for foreign workers, requiring Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) authorization and prioritizing Filipino nationals. This legislation is poised to significantly impact Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which heavily rely on foreign labor, potentially increasing operational costs and compliance burdens.","focusai_entities":"Department of Labor and Employment, DOLE, Senator Joel Villanueva, Senate Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Committee, Manila Bulletin, Bureau of Immigration","focusai_location":"Philippines, Manila","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.98), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Operational Impact?","query":"What specific operational adjustments will Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) need to implement to comply with the proposed foreign worker bill, particularly regarding workforce composition and talent acquisition strategies?"},{"label":"Economic Implications for POGOs?","query":"How will the increased regulatory burden and potential shift to a predominantly Filipino workforce impact the gross gaming revenue (GGR) and net gaming revenue (NGR) margins for POGOs operating in the Philippines?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,158,16333],"tags":[128,15789,337],"class_list":["post-9382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-philippines","tag-pogos","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9382","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=9382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21628,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9382\/revisions\/21628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}