"It’s been two weeks already since the pastillas scheme was exposed, but what have we done yet?"
"It’s been two weeks already since the pastillas scheme was exposed, but what have we done yet?"
(Part 1)
It’s been seven months already since the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation imposed a moratorium on granting licenses for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations applicants. This was in response to the criticisms that Pagcor had been receiving over its biggest earner—the POGOs.
However, I honestly believe Pagcor should not have given in to the criticism. These were not related to regulations and gaming. In fact, I am more inclined to believe that they were political in nature.
These critics insist that because of POGOs, there is now a proliferation of criminality. There are now prostitution dens catering to POGO workers, there are now kidnapping syndicates operating and victimizing POGO employees, and a special lane catering to illegal foreigners recruited for Pogos is now operating within the Bureau of Immigration. In all instances, those involved are Chinese nationals as they were the ones heavily invested in POGOs.
So, are these people saying that POGOs spawned criminality? Of course not. Criminality has been around ever since. Prostitution, kidnapping, bribery or corruption, abusive behaviors of foreigners—these were not invented by POGO workers. They have been around for the longest time.
The problem lies in the corrupt personnel over at the BI. They allow undesirable aliens to enter the country. At least, that was what was exposed during the Senate hearing where the pastillas scheme was bared.
It’s been two weeks already since the pastillas scheme was exposed, but what have we done yet? Except for the relief of those suspected in the multi-billion-peso racket, not much has been done to apprehend those who have illegally entered the country.
According to Pagcor’s estimate, there are around 70,000 Chinese nationals who are illegally working in POGOs, (and maybe NOGOs, as what Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Koko Nograles calls the non-registered offshore gaming operators).
It’s a good thing that the Chinese government has taken action to address the matter by cancelling the passports of its citizens suspected of being involved in criminal activities in other countries including the Philippines.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy announced: “In order to crack down on cross-border telecommunication fraud crimes, the Ministry of Public Security of China has obtained a list of Chinese nationals suspected of committing long-term telecommunication fraud crimes abroad, who are classified as the persons prohibited from exiting China according to the Exit-Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China. Such operations are aimed at the suspects of Chinese nationals who have committed telecommunications fraud crimes in different countries.”
The embassy emphasized that the Chinese Government always requires Chinese citizens overseas to abide by local laws and regulations and not to work illegally in foreign countries.
But as these illegal Chinese are right in our own backyard, it is the responsibility of our law enforcement agencies to arrest them and deport them to where they come from.
Pagcor welcomes the recent measures undertaken by the Chinese embassy in the Philippines regarding the crackdown of Chinese nationals with criminal records—but are illegally working or doing business in the country.
The crackdown is a result of Pagcor’s constant coordination with the Chinese Embassy and law enforcement agencies to ensure that proper regulations are observed.
In the matter of prostitution and other criminal activities, we have laws concerning them and yet enforcement has been the issue.
As I have mentioned in my earlier columns, Manila Wellness Spa, a front for prostitution catering solely to Chinese nationals, was raided in September last year. The building from where it is operating, the Diamond Bay Towers, was ordered closed by the Parañaque City Government last December. But video footages provided by a source revealed the spa, along with an illegal POGO, is again operating from the Diamond Bay Towers since January this year. So, what are the Parañaque City Government and Philippine National Police doing about this?
Recently, the Bureau of Internal Revenue revealed that POGOs have failed to remit to the government some P50 billion in taxes. So again, whose fault is this? Pagcor? No, Pagcor is only empowered to grant gaming licenses and regulate them.
Tax collection fall under the domain of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. What happened to the Attrition Law? Isn’t BIR supposed to be given the stick for its failure to collect the said amount from the Pogos? They also failed to collect P30 billion in taxes from Mighty Cigarettes and it had to take congressional inquiry to force them to pay but the BIR was never attrited. Now, it’s again passing the fault, this time, to the state-run gaming agency.
Continued this week