MANILA – China has called on the Philippines to ban all online gambling as it welcomed Manila’s suspension of new applications for off-shore gaming firms.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said in a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that they appreciated the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) suspension on the issuance of new Pogo applications.
“We have taken note of the Philippine government’s announcement and appreciate it. We hope the Philippines will go further and ban all online gambling,” Geng said.
China has earlier asked the Philippine government to “punish” Pogos, casinos and other forms of gambling entities illegally recruiting Chinese citizens.
“We hope that the Philippines would strengthen law enforcement with China and jointly tackle criminal activities including online gambling and cyber fraud,” he added. “This will help create an enabling environment for the development of bilateral relations and peace and stability in the region.”
A large number of Chinese citizens had been illegally recruited to work in the Philippine gambling industry with some “even lured into and cheated to work illegally with only tourist visas, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said then.
A “huge amount” of Chinese funds are also “illegally flown out” of China and into the Philippines through cross-border money laundering, it added, which “undermines China’s financial supervision and financial security.”/PN
