Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday, October 19 urged the Department of Labor and Employment to expedite its program that would assist Filipino workers who could potentially be displaced by the possible closure of the Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators .
“While we do not expect an abrupt displacement of POGO workers, it is important that immediate assistance or intervention is readily available for these Filipino workers to find replacement jobs as soon as possible,” Gatchalian said in a statement. Gatchalian noted that the local BPO industry—which has been existing in the country for the past 20 years—currently employs around 1.5 million Filipinos and posts an annual growth rate of eight percent .
On the other hand, the number of accredited service providers of licensed POGOs has gone down from 2019 to 2022. Based on data from Philippine Gaming Corp. , there are 123 accredited service providers of POGOs to date, compared in 2019 where the were 231.