As part of a crackdown on the notorious online gaming market, the Philippines will shut down 175 offshore gambling companies and deport nearly 40,000 Chinese employees, a Justice Ministry official announced Monday.
The industry started in the Philippines in 2016 and quickly spread as operators took advantage of the country’s lax gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is illegal.
More than 300,000 Chinese workers were employed by Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, at their peak, but the epidemic and rising taxes have forced many of them to relocate.
“The crackdown was prompted by reports of murders, kidnappings and other crimes committed by Chinese nationals against fellow Chinese nationals,” according to Jose Dominic Clavano, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice.
According to Calavano, the licenses of the POGOs that were closed had either expired or been revoked for violations such as failure to pay government fees. He also said that the deportation of Chinese workers will start from next month.
POGO fees alone brought in 3.9 billion pesos ($3.9 billion) last year and 7.2 billion pesos ($122.21 million) in 2020, according to the Finance Ministry. Taxes, employee expenses and office rent are expected to cost a lot, according to economists.
Beijing supports a crackdown on deportations and POGO-related crimes, and it “strongly opposes and takes strict measures against gambling,” according to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Manila.
A request for clarification was not immediately responded to by the Philippine authority, which recently reported that there were 30 approved POGO enterprises compared to 60 before the outbreak.
According to real estate firm Leechiu Property Consultants, a complete exit from the POGO sector would free up 1.05 million square meters (259 acres) of office space, a third of New York’s Central Park, as well as 8.9 billion pesos ( pesos) to $151 million) in lost annual rent.
According to Leechiu’s analysis, which estimates that POGOs bring 190 billion pesos ($3.22 billion) into the economy each year, a loss for the property and retail sectors, the sector employs 111,000 Filipinos and 201,000 Chinese.
