Police officers inspect an abandoned property in Barangay Senyora, Porac, Pampanga, on July 9, 2024. The property with resort-like amenities is believed to be part of an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO), the Grand Palazzo Royale of the Lucky South 99, and used by its incorporators and Chinese big bosses for illegal activities, including scam modus, kidnapping, illegal detention, and human and sex trafficking activities. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA – The Task Force POGO Closure warned Thursday that illegal operators could employ "dirty tactics" after the December 31 deadline set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in the country. 

The Department of Justice on Wednesday led a high-level meeting composed of various leaders of agencies involved in the total ban of POGOs such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Bureau of Immigration.

In a statement, the DOJ said the Task Force aims to establish a streamlined set of guidelines for the total prohibition of POGO operations throughout the country without sacrificing the welfare of workers.

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“However, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco warned that the most challenging part for the Task Force in weeding out POGOs from the country begins on the very first day of 2025 as they foresee that POGO operators will try to employ dirty tactics to hide their illegal business,” the DOJ said in the statement.

PH authorities preparing for more underground POGO ops after ban

The DOJ said all foreign POGO workers are given until October 15, 2024 to voluntarily repatriate.

Starting October 16, all 9G visas of affected foreign POGO workers will be downgraded to tourist visas and they would have to leave the Philippines within 60 days or face involuntary repatriation.

The DOJ also noted that so far, 41 licensed POGOs have expressed their intention to completely cease operations.

The justice department said it would continue to work closely with the task force until the total POGO ban is smoothly implemented before the year ends.

"With the President's guidance, we can now unleash the full consequences of the law against these undesirable elements of society," Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.