Fighting online gambling, the Philippines will repatriate 40,000 Chinese citizens

The Philippine Ministry of Justice recently stated that 175 offshore online gaming companies will be closed and 40,000 Chinese employees will be repatriated. Regarding the recent series of online gambling in the Philippines, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said that the Chinese embassy in the Philippines will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with the Philippine government and law enforcement departments to jointly handle related issues including repatriation.

According to Agence France -Presse reports on the 27th, the Philippine Minister of Justice Leimola recently ordered the Philippine Police to investigate 175 licenses but continue to operate offshore network gaming companies. The Philippine Ministry of Justice spokesman Clarvano said on the 27th that he will be repatriated from about 40,000 Chinese employees hired by these companies from October. The Philippine "Manila Times" stated on the 28th that this series of actions of the Ministry of Justice were caused by a recent series of criminal activities such as abduction related to offshore gaming companies. "Make sure that these crimes will not happen. This is our work and a responsibility to society." Clarvano said, "We think it is best to send a signal, indicating that this behavior is intolerable. Accept. "

The United States Cable Television News Network reported that offshore network gaming has developed rapidly since 2016. Related companies use the Philippines's loose gaming law to target Chinese customers. Agence France -Presse said that a large number of Chinese people came to the Philippines and poured into this industry that targeted the Chinese, and then caused friction in the local area. Many Filipinos complained that offshore betting operators evaded taxes and pushed up real estate prices without providing employment opportunities.

The Philippine Finance Minister Downo said at the Senate Hearing earlier this month that the social costs brought by online gaming are too high and need to be prohibited. Data from the Philippine Ministry of Finance showed that the tax from online gaming reached 7.2 billion peso (about $ 122 million) in 2020, but fell sharply to 3.9 billion pesos last year. The reduced income makes some senators began to weigh whether the social cost of offshore network gaming operations is worthwhile, so it issues a call for supporting online gaming. However, there are also voices that oppose online gambling. A real estate consulting company in Fei estimates that if all the online gambling companies are closed, the office space of 1.05 million square meters will be vacant and loses 8.9 billion peso ($ 151 million) in rental revenue.

Regarding the Philippines's crimes related to online gambling, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said recently that China praised the Philippine law enforcement department a series of actions recently. Crimes induced by online gambling not only harm China's interests and China -Philippine relations, but also damage the interests of the Philippines. China is willing to further strengthen law enforcement cooperation with the Philippines to effectively protect the security and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines. At the same time, it urges the Philippines to take strong measures to severely crack down on online gambling -related crimes and completely solve this social illness from the root. ▲

Huang Dongxing, a special reporter in the Philippines in the Philippines

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