MANILA — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian decried on Wednesday the "inhumane" conditions in detention centers of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) that detained workers from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

With this, the senator urged quick but strict deportation proceedings for foreign POGO workers in detention.

"Hindi na humane. Hindi na pang tao 'yung nangyari doon. So ang importante dito, ma-deport na as quick as possible. Para hindi na nasa custody natin itong mga taong ito," Gatchalian said.

He, however, suggested that if foreigners would be deported, they should have a direct flight to their country of origin as having layovers would risk them returning under a different alias.

"Pag ide-deport, dapat diretso rin. Hindi pwedeng may stopover. Mayroon kaming information, nung nag-stopover sa Kuala Lumpur, napunta sa Cambodia, at ngayon parang balak yatang pumunta pabalik dito. Under a different visa. So, ang importante ngayon, itong mga nasa PAOCC, ma-deport na kaagad straight to China, no? Dahil mga Chinese 'yan. Or straight to doon sa mga original na bansa nitong mga nahuli ng PAOCC. Kasi alam ko, may mga Indonesians, may mga Malaysians. So, dapat straight sa kanilang mga bansa. Doon nila harapin yung kaso nila," he said.

The senator said the law allows the foreigners to buy their own flights tickets but the government would "prescribe" to them a straight flight back.

"I believe na rinevise na ng Bureau of Immigration 'yung policy nila. Sabi nila na dapat straight na. Dati kasi ikaw na bibili ng ticket mo, ikaw pa magdidikta kung saan ka pupunta. So now, under the law, pwede silang bumili pero tayo magpre-prescribe kung saan sila uuwi. At the best case talaga, tayo bibili na rin para siguradong pauwiin na sila," he said.

Gatchalian, however, said that deporting the foreign workers using the government's budget is a bit hard due to funding issues within the agencies.

"Right now, I admit that the budget is not as much, 'no? Kasi ang daming with a thousand ide-deport, alam ko hindi talaga kakasya. So, unless i-augment ito ng ibang agencies or particularly Office of the President, dahil mayroon siyang discretionary fund, then pwede. Pwede na tayo bumili at sigurado makauwi na sila doon," he said.

"I think it can be augmented. Ang Office of the President naman can augment. Sa dami tayo nagpapakain pero ngayon may namamatay na. Tapos tayo nagpapa-hospital. Kung 'yung gastos nito ay mas malaki pa sa pagdeport natin sa kanila para makabalik na sa kanilang mga pinanggalingan eh tayo na gumastos para mabilis," he added.

The senator also revealed that he got information that some of the detainees do not want to be deported and instead want to face charges here.

"Narinig ko na marami sa kanila ayaw talaga magpa-deport kaya mas gusto pa nilang makasuhan. At least, nandito sila sa Pilipinas," he said.

"May mga ganun kaming information na yung mga ibang abogado ay pumapayag na maging counsel nito mga taong to para mag-file makasuhan sila at in the meantime, mag-post sila ng bail at makakawala sila. Pag nakawala sila dito, ang hirap mo na i-monitor kung nasaan sila. So, may mga ganyan kami narinig. So, importante rin. Yung mga may kaso, talagang dapat harapin na rin 'yung kaso nila. 'Yung legitimate na kaso. 'Yung wala, dapat bumalik sila," he said.