Chinese offshore gambling workers to lose Philippine visas as industry folds

Chinese nationals at offshore gambling operators in the Philippines will lose their visas as Manila attempts to wipe out the industry

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Chinese offshore gambling workers face Philippine visa cancellation by end of year

Ralph Jennings

Published: 7:00am, 5 Sep 2024Updated: 6:12pm, 5 Sep 2024

Tens of thousands of Chinese citizens in the Philippines to help run offshore gambling services stand to lose their work visas by mid-October, as the Southeast Asian country looks to uproot the industry by year’s end under growing scrutiny from both Beijing and Manila.

Foreign nationals who work for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) were told to cancel their work visas voluntarily by October. Otherwise, Manila is set to do so for any foreigners enmeshed in such operations, according to a Tuesday report by Philippine digital media firm Rappler.

Analysts said many – if not most – visa holders working for Pogos come from China and work alongside Filipinos as well as citizens of third countries.

More than 300,000 Chinese workers were employed by Pogos at the industry’s height, but official estimates put the number of those legally employed in the sector this year closer to half that amount.

Both Chinese and Philippine officials frown on the operations due to the suspected criminal acts they engender, a rare point of agreement between the two as sovereignty disputes rage over the South China Sea.

“I think China is opposed to such online gambling, especially if operating outside China with a penetration among the Chinese population,” said Victor Gao, vice-president of the Beijing-based think tank Centre for China and Globalisation.