Most forms of gambling are illegal under Chinese laws. However, it does not stop its citizens from betting on sports or on online casino games. Thus, when Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) made an announcement about not accepting new license applications, China was very happy. Furthermore, Geng Shuang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said that China wants the Philippines to Ban Online Gambling.
According to the latest news, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) have not been accepting new applications for three weeks. This is because China has been putting pressure on the Philippines about punishing firms that are illegally recruiting its nationals. Thus, PAGCOR is currently in the process of addressing these concerns before they can move forward.
Several Concerns to deal with before accepting new POGO applications
The Philippines is home to many online gambling operations because it has a fairly easy licensing process. Furthermore, according to PAGCOR chairperson, Andrea Domingo, there are 58 gambling operators in the Philippines and three with pending applications.
However, in the past years, some illegal and legal online gambling organizations have been the subject of police raids. The subject of these raids was because of companies illegally employing Chinese workers for their offshore sports betting operations.
In July, China made an appeal against these companies. This is because illegally recruited Chinese workers were often victims of extortion, kidnapping and torture. According to sports betting odds websites, 138,00 foreigners are working for POGO companies. However, 12,000 foreign nationals were also working illegally for POGOs.
In response, last Monday PAGCOR made an announcement about temporarily not accepting any new POGO applications. This is until the can assess the situation and also weigh the social costs and benefits from POGOs. They expect to finish the assessment by the end of the year.
China so far is very happy with the decision and wants the Philippines to Ban Online Gambling. Thus, If they can ban all forms of online gambling it would strengthen law enforcement relations between them. Therefore, together they could crack down even more on illegal online gambling and cyber fraud.
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