Palace: Rody to study China proposal to ban POGOs

BEIJING – President Duterte will look into the possible impact of a ban on revenue-boosting online gambling as requested by China, his spokesman said yesterday.

At a press briefing here, Panelo said online gambling, which employs about 130,000 Chinese nationals in the Philippines, was one of the topics discussed during Duterte’s bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday.

Panelo said Xi has expressed appreciation for the Philippines’ decision to suspend new applications for Philippine online gambling operations (POGO) but said he would appreciate it more if online gambling operations were completely stopped.

“He (Xi) explained...gambling is illegal in China and most of the players there are Chinese nationals. And also, crimes are committed with respect to that like money laundering. That is the concern of the (Chinese) President,” Panelo said.

Asked how Duterte responded to Xi’s remark, Panelo said: “The President didn’t respond to that” as the Chinese leader had raised several aspects of the bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing.

Pressed about Duterte’s position on the proposed POGO ban, Panelo replied, “The President has not said anything about it but I suppose he will have to study it. Although there was no request, there was only an implied request, the President, most likely, will study (it).”

Panelo said the finance department has to be consulted on the possible effects of a POGO ban on state revenues.

“We have to determine what we will lose if we stop online gaming. Will it affect the budget? You must remember revenues are coming in. They have to consult with the finance department,” he said.

“For now, what we can do is we can be very strict on the operation, follow rules and regulations and the law,” he added.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has collected about P200 million in taxes from foreigners working for POGOs. The finance department earlier reported revenue loss of P24 billion a year from nonpayment of taxes by 100,000 POGO workers. There are about 130,000 Chinese POGO workers in the Philippines.