LABOR chief Bienvenido Laguesma yesterday said at least 20,000 workers are expected to be displaced if Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) are outlawed in the country.
In a media forum in Manila, Laguesma yesterday said: “More or less, this is the number we are looking at. And these are those directly involved workers.”
Laguesma said the number may increase if those who will be indirectly affected by the looming POGO ban is included in the count.
“For example, in a hub, there are eateries and transport services. They too will be hit once the directly involved workers lose their jobs,” he explained.
Several lawmakers have been pushing for the banning of POGOs amid their alleged links to illegal activities and criminal acts. It also comes amid complaints of human trafficking and love scams, as well as allegations of involvement in surveillance activities and hacking of government websites by POGOs.
Laguesma said he has already ordered the profiling of POGO workers who stand to lose their jobs and those who may be indirectly affected by the ban.
“We are already profiling them so that we will know what are the appropriate interventions they will need so that they won’t lose their sources of livelihood and remain productive,” he said.
He also said assistance programs for would-be displaced POGO workers include livelihood assistance, job referrals, and skills training.
“Any appropriate program of the DOLE will be provided to them. The programs of DOLE are available for all displaced workers,” said Laguesma.
SIM CARD MESS
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to consider penalizing telecommunications companies which have been remiss of their duties under the SIM Registration Act “that helped enable illegal activities on their networks.”
He likewise asked the NTC to “make good its commitment to tighten regulations” by coordinating with law enforcement agencies to facilitate the filing of charges against subscribers using their SIM cards for scamming and those “spoofing” unregistered SIMs.
“Unless those who allow their registered SIMs to be used for such nefarious activities are prosecuted, scamming by criminal syndicates, including those associated with POGOs, will continue to proliferate,” he said.
Gatchalian earlier slammed the NTC for not effectively implementing the SIM Registration Act, pointing out that text scams and fraud continue to increase.
The NTC said the law is not a “silver bullet” which can eliminate text scamming and fraud in a snap of a finger.
“While the NTC has stated that ‘it is not a silver bullet against messaging scams,’ the law clearly mandates the promotion of responsible SIM use and provides law enforcement with tools to address crimes involving SIM utilization,” Gatchalian said.
He said he appreciates the NTC’s efforts to coordinate with over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, and the likes to curb scam messages, but the NTC should put priority on addressing phishing messages sent though texts which remain the primary platform for scamming activities.
Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday said the NTC should just explain why it failed to implement the SIM Registration Law instead of offering excuses.
“Instead of simply mouthing excuses, they should explain why they have been ineffective and what, if at all, they need to enable them to effectively combat and eliminate this social ill,” Escudero said. — With Raymond Africa
