PAGCOR’s discrepancies in POGO workers list recurred

By Gem Marquez

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The report of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) regarding the company size of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) presented a ‘difference’ in their report, which Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto called attention to last March 4.

POGOs, a company that came into operation in 2003 that provides and orchestrates offshore gaming services and online gambling activities which only foreigners can participate in. Online gaming hubs were only regulated when President Duterte took power.

Recto recalled at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, PAGCOR had issued licenses to at least 55 POGOs.

He stressed that there could be in excess of 470,000 POGO workers in the country, which is “three times higher” than the actual number of their workforce amounting to 118,000 that PAGCOR reported.

Recto pointed out this ‘difference’ during the hearing on various bills on POGO taxes.

"I just wanted to add, based on the document I am looking at, there are three times more POGO workers than reported,” Recto said.

“Based on the real estate that they occupy, based on the study conducted, there are roughly 470,000 [workers], and that you can crosscheck when the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) and DOF (Department of Finance) take a look at the contribution to the economy. You can cross check it. In fact, it is a new middle class. In 2019, it is a new middle class in Metro Manila,” he added, quoted from Inquirer.

Per the report by the Philippine Star in 2020, more than 143,000 alien employment permits (AEPs) were issued to POGO-related workers by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 2019.

In the same report, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said that compared to the earlier years from 2019, issued AEPs “had tripled as the government imposed new rules governing employment of foreign workers."

According to the current report, more than 200,000 POGO laborers have been issued AEPs in the last two years. Tutay specified there were 123,649 foreign nationals in 2019 and 79,017 in 2020.

Due to the provided statistics, Recto mentioned that DOLE’s data report is higher than PAGCOR's.

“So there is data to show that it is three times more,” he said in Inquirer's report. “What I am saying is for everyone [POGO worker], there are three without permits. Remember, 118,000 [is the figure reported by PAGCOR]. Here, the estimate is 470,000 workers in the POGO industry, three times more than what is reported."

However, the issue regarding discrepancies in PAGCOR’s reports aren’t new.

In December 2019, presiding officer Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga Jr. pointed out the “discrepancies in numbers” of POGO workers on the list of PAGCOR, DOLE, and Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID), where he cross-examined their respective records.

In an article in GMA News, BID reported in October 2020, a number of 39,831 POGO workers were issued working visas while the other 4,967 were issued provisional work permits that are only eligible for a maximum of six months.

According to the BID data, the sum of POGO workers in the country that time ran to 44,678.

But in the second quarter of 2019, under DOLE’s account, 86,537 POGO were issued AEPs.

“Of this figure, 83% or 71,532 permits were issued to foreign nationals while the rest were given to Filipino employees," as reported by GMA News.

On the other hand, PAGCOR has a record of 92,897 foreign POGO workers based on the gaming regulator’s data.

“The three government agencies who are supposed to have the same numbers actually have different figures,” Barzaga said.

When asked to justify the figures present in their reports, BID said that “it is possible that the DOLE has a higher number of foreign workers because it is the one that issues alien employment permits as a requirement for work visas.”

However, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate questioned the data of the corresponding agencies along with their permit processing, seeking for their clarification.

“Ang BID is also issuing provisional work permit. Why is the BID issuing this? Isn’t this a function of DOLE?” Zarate noted as reported by GMA News.

“Kaya lumalabas, magkaiba ang figure. Then the BID is saying na siguro mas mataas ang figure ng DOLE. But here we are, mas mataas ang figure ng PAGCOR,” he added.

(So it’s showing different figures. Then the BID is saying that maybe the DOLE’s figure is higher. But here we are, PAGCOR's figure is higher,)

According to Homer Arellano of BID, “I think number one is that not all foreign nationals involved in POGO that were issued alien employment permits of the DOLE pushed through with their visa application with the Bureau of Immigration."

But as for this year, no clarification was delivered by PAGCOR nor POGOs to justify the reported data examined by Recto.