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Numerous criminal activities have been linked to the rise of online casinos known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. Photo: AFP

Philippine Senate opens inquiry into crimes linked to Chinese-run offshore gambling operators

  • Numerous criminal activities have been connected with Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators, from murders and kidnappings to prostitution dens
  • The Senate’s investigation began after it was revealed last month that Philippine immigration officials were taking bribes from Chinese nationals
Deepening problems involving Chinese nationals working for offshore gambling operators in the Philippines were reported to the country’s Senate on Thursday, including an alleged attempt to set up a firing range near the workers’ housing.

The complaint was made in a video presentation to the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations, popularly known as the blue-ribbon committee, by residents of Multinational Village, a gated community in Paranaque City, south of Manila.

Sonia Lopez, one of the members of the homeowners’ group, told the committee they had managed to put a stop to firing range plan, which another unnamed resident said was intended “to teach gun enthusiasts [among the Chinese workers] to be responsible gun owners” – this despite private gun ownership being illegal in China and foreigners being barred from owning or carrying guns under Philippine law.

Multinational Village, about five kilometres from Ninoy Aquino International Airport and nine kilometres from Villamor Air Base of the Philippine Air Force, used to be a quiet, gated residential community, homeowners’ group spokesman Mel Marquez told senators.

But the rise of Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) in recent years has brought about a “dramatic increase” in Chinese nationals, he said, with the neighbourhood’s single-family dwellings now crammed with as many as 200 workers who overload the power network and cause garbage to pile up. He further blamed the 500 or so buses and vans that ferry them back and forth every day for causing congestion and damaging the area’s roads.

The complaints are nothing new. As early as November last year residents of Multinational Village had appealed for President Rodrigo Duterte to intervene and stop the construction of more Pogo housing, according to The Philippine Star newspaper, which reported that 27 new multistorey dwellings were being built in addition to the 102 homes already rented out to Pogo workers – despite the community being zoned by the city as for single-family dwellings only.

Numerous criminal activities have also been connected with Pogo workers’ accommodation since 2017, Philippine National Police Major General Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the directorial staff, testified at the Senate hearing, including seven murders, 73 kidnappings and 10 raids on prostitution dens, resulting in the arrest of one Saudi and 59 Chinese suspects, as well as the rescue of almost 200 sex workers – 173 of whom were Chinese, including a minor, 13 Vietnamese, two Russian, two Mongolian and eight Filipino.

Philippines investigates US$370 million cash-smuggling racket

On top of such crimes, Customs commissioner Rey Guerrero testified that 60 people, including Chinese nationals, had collectively brought more than US$633 million in cash through Manila’s international airport since September last year.

Most of the money was not seized because the Philippines, unlike jurisdictions like the United States, does not have a law against “bulk cash smuggling”, officials from Customs bureau and the Anti-Money-Laundering Council said.

This, combined with an “unvalidated” report cited by Senate Defence Committee chairman Panfilo Lacson earlier in the day that “2,000 to 3,000 members” of the Chinese military are currently operating in the Philippines, alarmed Richard Gordon, chairman of the blue-ribbon committee, who said the smuggled cash could be used to fund destabilisation efforts.

Concerns were also raised at Thursday’s Senate hearing that Pogos were involved in billions of pesos worth of “suspicious transactions”, which Anti-Money-Laundering Council Executive Director Mel Racela linked in his testimony to violations of the “e-Commerce Act as well as drug trafficking”, without elaborating.

Many of the transactions his council flagged were not licensed by Pagcor, the state regulator, he noted, further adding that “200 internet-based casinos were illegally servicing online gaming”.

Philippines peso bank notes pictured on top of playing cards in a casino. Photo: Shutterstock

When asked how much Pogos contributed to the economy of the Philippines, Racela said about 52 billion pesos (US$1.02 billion) in revenues, or 0.29 per cent of GDP.

“Less than one-third of 1 per cent of our economy,” said Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, adding that he thought “there is no sense in continuing their operations … if we look at the social effects of these Pogos”.

The Philippine Senate began its investigations into Pogos, after it was revealed last month that several senior Bureau of Immigration officials were implicated in a scheme charging Chinese nationals hefty bribes in return for guaranteed entry to the country.

Philippine airport syndicate’s sweet deal for Chinese nationals looking to work illegally

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate committee on women, children and family, said on Wednesday that Huang Xilian, China’s ambassador to the Philippines, had not answered her request for information and a meeting with his staff on what should be done with the Chinese women rescued from prostitution dens.

“Individual illegal and criminal cases involving Chinese citizens are only isolated incidents and cannot represent the whole picture of China-Philippines relations,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement, adding that it “firmly opposes any irresponsible remarks based on fake news and condemns any groundless allegations against China out of ulterior political motives”.

“The Chinese government attaches great importance to combating all kinds of illegal and criminal activities and has been maintaining close cooperation with the relevant agencies of Philippine government on cracking down [on] transnational crimes, which has produced fruitful results,” it said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Senate opens probe into Chinese-run gambling centres
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