SENATE, Pasay City — More than a month and half past the deadline set by The authorities, only 10 percent of workers employed by the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) have been deported after December 31, 2024 while reports say that the remaining 90 percent are in hiding or are still involved in 'guerilla-style' POGO operations.

This was disclosed by former broadcaster and now senator Rafael 'Raffy' Tulfo, who sounded the alarm to the authorities after information reached his office that there are some business establishment who are secretly involved in scams that had been perpetuated by then POGO hubs in the previous year.

Tulfo made the disclosure during the hearing of the Senate committee on games and amusement, where it was revealed that as of August last year, there were 58,181 POGO workers nationwide, of whom 30,144 were foreigners.

Following complaints of their involvement in criminal activities, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. ordered the POGO ban, giving the operators until the end of last year (Dec. 31, 2024) to wrap up their operations.

Tulfo's revelation was supported by data from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), whose
Legal Division chief Arvin Cesar Santos noted that of the 30,144 foreign Pogo workers, the Bureau had issued visa cancellation orders to only 12,106 of them.

When pressed on how many of the 30,144 Pogo workers are now out of the country, Santos replied that the BI had only deported 3,024 of them who were apprehended and arrested by various operations by the BI and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).

With this surprising admittance, Tulfo thus floated the possibility that the remaining foreigners are still operating POGOs illegally.

“So ibig sabihin, meron pang gumagala gala dyan o baka nag-o-operate pa rin illegally. Meron tayong 27,000 foreign national na nagwo-work sa Pogo at hindi nyo na-account kung nasaan sila?” he queried, indicating his alarm regarding the failure of the authorities to locate and have the remaining POGO workers deported.