A justice ministry official said on Monday that the Philippines will stop operations of 175 offshore gambling firms and deport about 40,000 Chinese workers, part of a crackdown on the notoriously opaque online gaming industry.
The sector emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially as operators capitalized on the country's liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.
At their peak, Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the epidemic and higher taxes forced many to operate elsewhere.
Justice ministry spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano said that the crackdown was triggered by reports of murder, kidnapping and other crimes committed by Chinese nationals against fellow Chinese nationals.
Clavano said that the deportation of Chinese workers would start next month because the POGOs targeted for closure had licenses that expired or were revoked for violations like non-payment of government fees.
The finance ministry said 7.2 billion pesos were $122.21 million in 2020 and 3.9 billion last year in POGO fees. Economists believe that much larger amounts are being spent on taxes, workers' spending and office rental.
The government supports deportation and crackdown on POGO related crimes, as well as tough measures to combat gambling The Philippines regulator, which recently said there were 30 licensed POGO firms compared to 60 before the epidemic, did not respond to a request for comment.
Leechiu Property Consultants estimates that a complete exit of the POGO industry would leave vacant 1.05 million square meters 259 acres of office space - a third of the size of New York's Central Park and 8.9 billion pesos $151 million in foregone annual rent.
The data shows that POGOs deliver 190 billion pesos $3.22 billion to the economy each year, a boon to the property and retail sectors, as the sector employs 201,000 Chinese and 111,000 Filipinos.