MANILA - Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on Monday asked an interagency task force to check the initial list of 138,000 foreign nationals working for offshore gaming firms in the country as it could be "too low."

The task force on Friday reported an initial list of 138,000 foreign nationals. A total of 54,241 were holders of alien employment permits (AEPs) while another 83,760 were given special working permits (SWPs), the DOF said in a statement.

"What you have to do now is to reconcile the entire list. The maximum we know is 138,000. I have a suspicion that this figure is low," Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said.

The task force now has to reconcile the list by physically checking the establishments were the foreign workers were hired, the statement said.

Dominguez earlier said the government could be losing billions from uncollected income taxes of foreign workers in POGOs.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp has submitted a list of 126 out of 205 POGOs, which employs 53,239 foreign workers with an average salary of P41,000, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa said.

Other agencies have also submitted a partial list of foreign workers including 52 from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), 75 from the Philippine Regulation Commission and 2,463 from the Clark and Subic special economic zones, Guballa said.

• Foreign workers in Philippines must follow tax laws: Dominguez