BI rushing exit clearance for POGO workers

MANILA, Philippines —  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) would hasten processing of applications of employees of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) or internet gaming licensees (IGL) so they could leave the country immediately.

The agency “formed teams to personally go to POGO and IGL companies and implement their (visa) downgrading on-the-spot,” announced BI Acting Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado.

Citing an earlier announcement from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Viado said foreign POGO and IGL workers should “voluntarily downgrade” their visas by Oct. 15.

After the said date, POGO personnel should leave the Philippines within 59 days or before Dec. 31 or face deportation and even blacklisting, he added.

Viado made the pronouncement following a meeting on the closure of POGO firms that gathered officials of the BI, DOJ, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

The agencies agreed to set “service days” for POGO employees wherein the BI would downgrade their visa status and issue exit clearances.

Meanwhile, staff from DOLE would collect alien employment permits which POGO workers should surrender.

The BI has so far downgraded a total of 5,955 visas, wherein 55 percent of owners have left the country as of Sept. 24, according to the agency.