The employment permits for both foreign and local employees at offshore gaming operators (now called IGLs) in the Philippines will remain valid until December 31st of this year. The licenses were initially valid for three years.
The head of PAGCOR, the country’s gaming regulator, approved this adjustment to the validity period on August 15th. Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration set a 60-day deadline for foreign nationals working in POGOs to leave the country, but the Department of Justice halted this order earlier this month to align with the government’s plan to phase out the controversial gaming industry by the end of the year.
Alejandro H. Tengco had previously expressed support for legitimate offshore gaming operators, but a ban ordered by President Ferdinand H. Marcos Jr. mandates that all POGO operations must cease by the end of the year due to “grave abuse […] to our system of laws.”
PAGCOR has stated that foreign crime syndicates, not POGOs, are the real threat. Alejandro H. Tengco, CEO of PAGCOR, predicted that enforcing the ban will result in a loss of PHP23 billion ($408 million) in revenue and up to 40,000 jobs.
The news of the work permit extension came one day after PAGCOR’s Overseas Gaming License Department met with IGL (formerly known as POGOs) at PAGCOR’s Corporate Office in Pasay City. The meeting included representatives from IGLs and authorized providers, along with officials from the Department of Justice, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Bureau of Immigration. The meeting focused on the impending ban on offshore gaming in the Philippines.
