Blacklisting by China pits tourism vs offshore gaming for PHL gov’t

By Alyssa Nicole O. Tan, Reporter

CHINA, where gambling is banned, has included the Philippines in its blacklist of tourism destinations due to continued offshore gaming operations sanctioned by the government, the Senate president said on Tuesday following a meeting with the Chinese envoy in Manila.

Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, speaking during the Ways and Means Committee hearing, said Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian visited the Senate on Monday to discuss further bilateral relations between the two nations and mentioned the travel prohibition.

“Ambassador Huang said the Philippines now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if the tourists going there will be joining POGO operations,” Mr. Zubiri said, referring to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

“And they do not know if their nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities done by the Triad, by the syndicates operating POGOs,” he added.

The Chinese were among the top foreign visitors in 2019 at 1.74 million, contributing roughly 0.7% to the country’s gross domestic product, according to data from the Tourism department. This year, 22,236 arrivals from China have so far been recorded.

China’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has imposed travel restrictions on areas that are supposedly “endangering the personal and property safety of Chinese citizens.”

The Chinese Embassy, in a statement on Tuesday, did not categorically confirm the blacklisting but cited “China’s policy on and firm opposition to POGO.”

It also said “tourism is an important component of practical cooperation between China and the Philippines.”

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s office has not yet received any communication on China’s blacklisting of the Philippines, Acting Press Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil told a news briefing on Tuesday.

“We have not received any advisory with respect to that blacklisting issue. We will make a proper comment once we are provided with that advisory,” she said.

Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a policy analyst, said the blacklisting would likely compel the Marcos administration to totally ban POGO operations in the country.

“Obviously, they can use this as another reason why we should abandon POGOs despite its perceived economic benefit,” he said in a Messenger chat.

Mr. Yusingco said the issue would unlikely affect the Philippines’ relations with Beijing, which has maritime territorial disputes with Manila.

Hansley A. Juliano, a political economy researcher, said China’s action is a “massive indictment of how ill-advised” the previous administration’s pivot to China is.

“It’s a bit rich to blame the Philippines for the POGO governance problem,” he said in a Messenger chat. “After all, they never domestically settled how these sectors/industries should be governed and disciplined, and now they’re blaming us for welcoming industries they considered forbidden/criminal/garbage.”

TOURISM INDUSTRY
John Paolo R. Rivera, associate director at the Asian Institute of Management, said being in China’s tourism blacklist would affect the local industry which had been badly hit by the pandemic, although domestic tourists have been propping up recovery.

“This will have impact on our foreign tourism arrivals as Chinese tourists are known for having high volume and spending in our country. Though, this is shadowed by the sustained contributions of domestic tourism,” Mr. Rivera told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) President Jose C. Clemente III said the ban has no immediate significant impact on the sector.

“As of now, we have not had too many arrivals from China since the country reopened to tourism last February, so the effects in the short term haven’t really been felt yet,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

“That said, when we look at the medium and long term, when China will allow full travel to continue, the blacklist may affect overall arrivals as they are our No. 2 market pre-pandemic,” he said, adding that this was a “wake-up call” for government to reassess the presence of POGOs.

Tourism revenues, he added, can easily offset the potential income loss from POGOs, which opponents want totally abolished citing social costs.

Mr. Zubiri said China’s envoy mentioned that based on their assessment, Chinese POGO owners and operators are likely to be connected in syndicated crimes and illegal activities.

National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon, speaking at the hearing, said another potential economic repercussion to the Philippines is its continued inclusion in the Financial Action Task Force’s gray list for money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

Philippine authorities are working to get the country out of the gray list by January 2023.

POGO supporters point to the economic contributions of the sector, including employment, property rental, and various auxiliary industries. — with Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza