Much has been said lately about the harmful effects of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which offer online games of chance to players in China, where gambling is illegal.
Recent Senate hearings on POGO operations show these include a rise in official corruption, money laundering, human trafficking, prostitution and kidnapping.
The influx of tens of thousands of workers from China—who make up the vast majority of POGO employees—has also created social and economic problems, including a precipitous increase in real estate prices and rents in Metro Manila, which hurts locals.
Nobody can tell, for instance, how exactly how many Chinese nationals are employed in POGOs. The official number in May 2019 was 138,000, but insiders estimate the number could go as high as 250,000 if POGOs operating illegally are considered.
Another issue with POGOs is that they hire relatively few Filipinos, who are estimated to make up only 17 percent of their workforce. In contrast, the business process outsourcing or BPO industry provides jobs for more than 1.2 million Filipinos, bringing direct benefits to local workers.
Two senators—Richard Gordon and Franklin Drilon—say the income that POGOs bring to the government do not justify the rise in crime and social problems that these operations bring.
President Rodrigo Duterte, however, has rejected calls to shut down POGOs, saying that the problems hounding the industry can be addressed by the government, which needs the revenues that offshore gambling operations bring.
Offering any specifics, a Palace spokesman merely said the President “has enough basis” to keep the POGOs running.
"When the President makes the decision it's a decisive one and he has basis to support his decision," he said.
The President himself said every centavo that Pagcor earns from the POGOs can be accounted for.
He added that POGOs are allowed because the country needs the funds generated by the industry, to the tune of about P2 billion a month.
But none of these assurances address the need to stop the crime and corruption that have sprung up around what to many Filipinos is a shadowy industry.
If the government says it can deal with these problems without shutting down the POGOs, it must do so quickly, demonstrably and convincingly.