Last updated on October 23rd, 2022 at 09:06 am
Philippine officials shut down more than 214 illegal Chinese gaming operations. Also, authorities deported six Chinese workers, with 400 more waiting for their deportation procedures. It was part of the government’s renewed crackdown on illegal offshore gambling operations.
According to bookie pay per head software reports, there was an increase in crimes victimizing Chinese workers in the country. Most of them work at illegal online gaming operations. Also, crimes include sexual abuse and kidnappings. As a result, it led to the current crackdown. Additionally, there are calls to ban Philippine offshore gambling operations or POGOs.
According to betting software sources, the companies operate in the Philippines. However, they serve customers from other countries. POGOs have increased since 2016 and generated $508 million in gambling fees and revenues.
Illegal Chinese Gaming Operations
Current enforcement efforts focus on Chinese operators who have breached the law. For instance, they failed to remit taxes and revenue shares to the government. Assistant Secretary of Justice Jose Dominic Clavano indicated the government will cancel the visas of 48,000 Chinese workers. Also, workers can either leave voluntarily or face deportation.
Beijing supports the crackdown on online gambling sites that serve Chinese customers. Teh Chinese government has been strict on its gambling ban.
Clavano said that 372 mostly Chinese workers from offshore gambling sites had been detained by Philippine authorities since September. Six of them were sent back to China.
Clavano said, as reported by bookie PPH features that the identities of the other Chinese people are still being checked with Chinese authorities. That can be a long process.
People think more than 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese worked in online gambling operations at their peak in 2016 and 2017. That helped the real estate, transportation, and food businesses in the cities where they were based. But a lot of them had to leave because of several reasons. They include random crackdowns by the government, a stricter tax law, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Philippine lawmakers have discussed whether or not to ban all Chinese online gambling.
