Do unto Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) workers what you would want foreign governments to do unto overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza of partylist group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) made this call when the Department of Justice announced plans to deport at least 2,000 POGO employees by October as part of a crackdown on foreign workers who are still in the country illegally after their POGO firms’ licenses were terminated.
In a statement, he said as the Philippine government requires that OFWs in their home nations be treated fairly and equally, it should do the same for foreign employees.
Mendoza continued, “TUCP calls on the government to pay equal attention to the plight of these foreign workers, because we ourselves have also deployed millions of overseas Filipino workers and seafarers abroad.”
“Government must ensure the proper treatment of these foreign POGO workers in the same manner that we demand the proper treatment of our OFWs abroad,” he underlined.
“We have seen the horrific treatment of illegal and undocumented OFWs,” the legislator said, “and how extremely vulnerable our Filipino workers were, and are, in distant countries to abuse and draconian treatment from governments that regarded our OFWs as mere commodities.”
Nagkaisa Chairperson Sonny Matula expressed similar thoughts, saying that, like many OFWs who were mistreated abroad, foreign POGO employees should not be viewed as criminals but rather as victims of dubious labor and business activities.
“To us in the labor movement, the most important aspect of that protection aside from due process is by not criminalizing the victims, for in many cases, migrant workers end up victims to onerous labor contracts if not outright trafficking by criminal organizations,” he added.
According to Matula, the Department of Labor and Employers, which is in charge of registration and work permit issuing to regulate the employment of foreigners under the Labor Code, needs to play a more active role in the regulation of POGO workers.
The Labor department, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Migrant Workers were asked by the labor group to collaborate in order to develop a coherent policy on the POGO issue and to include labor organizations and migrant groups in the policymaking process.
Despite the cancellation of 175 POGO licenses, the Justice department disclosed that an estimated 40,000 POGO employees or Chinese nationals remain in the country.
On the other hand, data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation reveal that as of 2020, there were 120,976 POGO employees nationwide. Among the 120,976 foreign POGO employees, 69,613 are Chinese, 3,000 are Vietnamese, 2,400 are Indonesians, 1,700 are Taiwanese, and 1,200 are Malaysians. The remaining 44 countries make up the remainder of the workforce.
Photo Credit: House of Representatives website
