In an ongoing sweep of illegal offshore gaming operations, Philippine officials last week announced the shutdown of at least 214 such ventures and the deportation of several Chinese nationals who worked for them.
The move followed reports of systemic crime in the industry, including kidnapping, human trafficking and sexual abuse of the workers by illegal iGaming operators. The outcry in the wake of the reports has some calling for bans on all Philippine offshore gaming operators (known as POGOs), even those that are legally sanctioned.
According to the Associated Press, since 2016 legal POGOs have generated about PHP30 billion (US$508 million) in gaming revenues and have been a major contributor to the government budget. When the industry hit its peak, it employed up to 300,000 Chinese in an influx that supported real estate and other sectors. That number began to drop when government crackdowns and stricter tax laws came into play.
Now with the closures, some 48,000 people who worked for illegal POGOs, mostly of Chinese origin, must leave the country or face deportation.
“All of these illegal POGOs cannot operate in the country … the people who work for them are violating our laws and we should make sure that they leave our country,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters.
Beijing supports a crackdown on iGaming, legal and otherwise, which solicits customers in Mainland China, where gambling is illegal.
“Crimes induced by and associated with POGO not only harm China’s interests and China-Philippines relations, but also hurt the interests of the Philippines,” the Chinese Embassy said in a recent statement. “It is, therefore, widely believed that social costs of POGO far outweigh its economic benefits to the Philippines in the long run.”
Some lawmakers also support putting an end to POGOs. “It is true that they contribute to the coffers,” Senator Grace Poe told her colleagues in a hearing this month. “But it comes at significant social costs, which in turn pose a reputational risk that can affect our business and investment climate.”
