00:00The deadline for foreign POGO workers to stay in the country is over.
00:05Those who are still in the Philippines after the deadline are facing deportation.
00:15This is Rod Laguzad of PTV in Balitang Pambansa.
00:21December 31 is the last day for foreign POGO workers to leave the country.
00:27The deadline for these workers is no extension.
00:29This is also in accordance with the first directive of the President regarding the banning of POGO operations in the country.
00:34According to the Bureau of Immigration, most of the illegal foreigners who work as POGO workers have already left the country.
00:42Since the second week of December, more than 6,000 were expected to leave.
00:49So by this time, less than half of it is expected to leave in the next few days.
00:57There is no chance of extension for the December 31 deadline, no more extension.
01:02If the foreign workers of the POGO company pass the December 31 deadline, they will be blacklisted already.
01:11This means that they will not be able to return to the country even if they have a family here.
01:16That's why the BI is continuously urging the new police to follow suit.
01:20If they still want to work in the country, they can still apply for a visa here.
01:26Based on the BI's data, from 33,000, 26,000 to 28,000 have already downgraded their visas.
01:34While those who will remain in the Philippines after the deadline will be deported.
01:39But the illegal foreigners who work to begin with in the Philippines, it's automatic for them to be deported and blacklisted.
01:49They don't have a voluntary period to leave the country.
01:52They are already blacklisted because to begin with, they have already violated immigration laws.
01:58While pending cases are pending, they need to wait for the resolution before the deportation process.
02:05Following this, at the beginning of the new year, the BI was able to catch foreign nationals who are involved in the small operations of POGO in the country.
02:13We're looking into targeting the smaller ones, the breakaway groups that are operating in a smaller scale.
02:21Batches of 10, small groups of 10, less than 10.
02:25Those are the ones we are seeing now that are following the problems that we are facing.
02:32This might not be as blatant as the ones before and the community might not notice it anymore.
02:40It's a big thing for the public to be able to monitor this and for the local governments to be able to do so.
02:46The BI is cooperating with other local enforcement agencies to catch those who continue to operate illegally in the country.
02:54From PTV Manila, Rod Laguzad, for Panbansa News.
