‘Self deport’: China staff made to leave Philippines in Pogo gambling crackdown

Six Chinese employees of online gambling sector were this week escorted to a flight home, while thousands more illegal workers may also face deportation

But while crime, including murder and kidnapping, is rife in the industry, some business leaders worry any shutdown may affect the economy

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Pesos on a pile of playing cards. Thousands of Chinese people working in the Philippines’ gambling sector may have to leave. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:05pm, 20 Oct 2022Updated: 6:24pm, 20 Oct 2022

Six undocumented Chinese nationals working in the Philippines’ increasingly controversial online gaming industry were made to “self-deport” to their home city of Wuhan this week, officials said, as debate continued to rage among policymakers on the sector’s future.

More senators have called for the shutdown of all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) because of rampant criminal activities associated with the online gambling industry operating in the Philippines for customers abroad.

Those crimes include murders, shoot-outs, kidnapping, torture and money-laundering, as well as the illegal use of policemen and private security agency personnel as “bodyguards” by Pogo operators and their families.

However, a prominent group for businesses, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has urged caution. Its president George Barcelon told senators on October 11 that a sudden complete shutdown would send ripples through the Philippine economy.

On Wednesday, finance undersecretary Cielo Magno told lawmakers that a total Pogo shutdown would result in nearly 65 billion pesos (US$1.1 billion) worth of losses in terms of rental income, revenue and personal consumption by Pogo employees.

However, she also said that Pogo-related crimes would directly impact foreign direct investments, explaining that “one crime incidence in every 100,000 population can result in a GDP decline of one per cent”.

Chinese nationals working in the gambling sector in the Philippines in 2019 leave an office building in Paranaque after their shift. File photo: Martin San Diego / SCMP

Last month David Leechiu, the CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants, warned that a total ban could wipe out 200 billion pesos (US$3.3 billion) from the economy each year. He suggested that the government first go after illegal Pogos, their service providers and workers.