As part of a campaign against the infamously murky online gaming market, the Philippines would shut down 175 offshore gambling companies and deport approximately 40,000 Chinese employees.
In 2016, the Philippines saw the emergence of a new industry that took off quickly as businesses targeted customers in China, where gambling is illegal, by taking advantage of the country’s lax gaming rules.
Over 300,000 Chinese workers were employed by Philippine offshore gaming operators, or Pogos, at their height, but the epidemic and increasing taxes have caused many to find work elsewhere.
Jose Dominic Clavano, spokesman for the justice department said, “the crackdown was brought on by reports of murder, kidnapping, and other crimes committed by Chinese nationals against other Chinese citizens.”
Clavano said, the Pogos that were chosen for closure had licences that had either expired or had been cancelled because to infractions such failure to pay government fees. He also stated that the deportation of the Chinese employees would begin the next month.
According to the finance ministry, Pogo fees alone brought in 3.9 billion pesos to the government last year and 7.2 billion pesos (US$122 million) in 2020. Taxes, employee expenditures, and office rent are all expected to cost much more, according to economists.
Beijing supports deportation and a crackdown on Pogo-related offences, according to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Manila, which also stated that the government “firmly opposes and takes serious steps to combat gambling.”
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the Philippine authority, which recently reported that there were 30 licenced Pogo businesses as opposed to 60 before the outbreak.
According to the real estate consultant Leechiu Property Consultants, the Pogo sector’s total exodus would leave unoccupied 1.05 million square metres (259 acres) of office space, which is a third of Central Park in New York, as well as 8.9 billion pesos (US$151 million) in lost annual rent.
As per Leechiu’s analysis, which estimates Pogos bring 190 billion pesos (US$3.2 billion) to the economy each year, a windfall to the property and retail sectors, the sector employs 111,000 Filipinos and 201,000 Chinese.