Philippines move for firms catering to Chinese gamblers to reopen amid lockdown faces backlash
- Philippine offshore gaming operators, or Pogos, were allowed to resume operations on May 1 subject to certain conditions
- The firms have been linked to prostitution, human trafficking, and corruption
Government officials on May 1 said some Pogos would be allowed to reopen with 30 per cent of their usual employees, subject to requirements such paying as taxes and fees to the state – a particular bone of contention among those looking to regulate the industry – and testing all workers for Covid-19.
“It’s dismaying that [the authorities] are giving priority to Pogo workers rather than their own fellow Filipinos,” said senator Risa Hontiveros, who has presided over a series of hearings on the gaming firms.
In an April 26 editorial, the Philippine Daily Inquirer warned of the “feelings likely to be stirred by news that even as Filipinos are being asked to sacrifice and endure temporary hardship in the name of a national health emergency, foreigners – specifically Chinese workers – may soon be welcomed back to our territory so they can resume their employment” in Pogos.