Philippines Bans Chinese-Run Online Gambling Operations

A casino dealer collects chips at a roulette table in Pasay in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines, on March 27, 2015. Erik De Castro/Reuters

Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos announced in the State of the Nation address the immediate ban of mostly Chinese-run online gambling operations and accused them of engaging in crimes and other illegal activities.

“The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop,” Mr. Marcos told the Philippine Congress in his July 22 address.

His decision to outlaw these Chinese-run online gambling operations followed a crackdown backed by Beijing, as these sites targeted customers in China, where gambling is illegal. There are estimated to be more than 400 Chinese-run online gambling operations across the Philippines employing tens of thousands of foreign workers from China and Southeast Asian countries.

The crackdown has resulted in the shutdown of some large complexes where authorities believe thousands of workers from Southeast Asia and Chinese nationals were illegally employed and forced to work under poor conditions.

“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder,” Mr. Marcos said.

These Chinese-run gambling firms, also known as Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), are located in the Philippines but serve overseas customers.

Mr. Marcos said the complete ban of these gaming sites will solve multiple problems that the Philippines is facing.

He directed the nation’s gaming agency to wind down and end operations of POGOs by year’s end, and received loud applause and a standing ovation in the Philippine Congress. He also instructed labor and economic officials to find alternative employment for Filipino workers who will be affected by the shutdown.

In 2022, the Philippines shut down at least 214 illegal Chinese offshore gambling sites during a government crackdown and deported the first six of nearly 400 detained Chinese workers.

Mr. Marcos’s ban order comes at a time of rising tensions with the Chinese communist regime over the disputed waters in the South China Sea, where both Beijing and Manila have overlapping claims.

‘Cannot Yield, Nor Waver’ South China Sea Position

During the same address, Mr. Marcos stated that his country “cannot yield, nor waver” in its South China Sea position and that it will continue to seek ways to de-escalate tensions without compromising its position and principles in the contested area.

The Philippines wants to settle these disputes via diplomatic means, he said.

“Proper diplomatic channels and mechanisms under the rules-based international order remain the only acceptable means of settling disputes,” Mr. Marcos said.

On July 21, the Philippines and the Chinese communist regime reached a “provisional arrangement” for resupply missions to a Philippine outpost to “avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation” in the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Since 2023, the Philippines has faced multiple violent confrontations and harassment from Beijing within its exclusive economic zone at its outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the disputed Spratly Islands. The Chinese coast guard often aggressively intercepts to prevent the Philippines from resupplying its troops at the outpost. The Chinese coast guard has fired water cannons at Philippine ships and rammed Philippine vessels. The latest confrontation on June 17 wounded several Filipino sailors, one of whom lost a finger.

Last week, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States “will do what is necessary” to ensure that Manila maintains its resupply missions in the Second Thomas Shoal.

Mr. Marcos said in his address that the Philippines is “continuing to strengthen [its] defensive posture, both through developing self-reliance and through partnerships with like-minded states.”

The Philippines has ramped up its effort to build security alliances to strengthen its military’s limited capability to defend Manila’s territorial interests in the South China Sea.

Earlier this month, Manila and Japan signed a mutual defense pact to enhance their defense cooperation. This agreement marks Japan’s first defense deal in Asia. Additionally, the Philippines is already bound by a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the United States, which requires both nations to defend each other if either country is attacked.