Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 8) – The country’s income from Philippine offshore gaming operators does not make up for the social costs due to the crimes committed by Chinese nationals, hence the need for an urgent action from the Duterte administration, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo said Sunday.
“Marami ng krimeng nagawa, marami nang nabiktima, pero wala pa ring umaaksyon. Sobrang dami na ng negatibong nagawa sa atin, lahat ng dahilan para ipatigil na iyan, nand’yan,” the Vice President said in her weekly radio show.
[Translation: So many crimes have been committed, so many were victimized, but no one is taking action. This has brought us a lot of negative impacts. Definitely, all the reasons to halt the operations are there.]
“Oras na sumuhol, dapat deport na agad. Ano pang hinihintay? Oras na magcommit ng crime dito, dapat deport na ‘yan agad. Ano pang hinihintay? Kasi ang dami ng cost sa atin,” she added.
[Translation: Once they resort to bribery, they should have been deported right away. What are they waiting for? Once they commit a crime here, they should have been deported right away. What are they waiting for? Because this entails a lot of costs to us.]
“Hindi sapat ang income na nakukuha natin sa nawawala sa atin (The income which we have been supposedly getting does not compensate for other losses),“ Robredo noted.
She also took a swipe at government agencies which have given in to bribes instead of being on the front line in resolving the issue.
Robredo has been echoing the sentiments of senators who recently questioned the alleged stacks of cash brought into the Philippines through money laundering, along with other crimes, in connection to the presence of offshore gaming companies.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing bared last Thursday that POGOs generate about ₱7 billion in net inflows, which is the money retained as a huge chunk of the ₱30-billion capital sent to the country is subsequently pulled back out.
But alongside this, the Philippine National Police reported 10 police operations versus POGO sex dens, which mostly cater exclusively to Chinese workers. Some 199 women who got involved in prostitution have been rescued. There have also been 73 casino-related kidnapping cases in the last three years, which targeted Chinese nationals.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue also earlier revealed that over ₱27 billion worth of tax liabilities remain uncollected from the POGO sector.
Malacañang continued to shrug off these issues, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte should not be rushed into making a decision.
“When the President decides on something, he has goods to back up his decision. If he has not received a comprehensive report on these illegal practices, you cannot hurry him up,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo previously said.
This runs in contrast to the administration’s swift action on the fate of all gambling operations by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for supposed “massive corruption” – the President called for their closure in just 24 hours and even ordered the arrest of those who will violate his order.
It then took Duterte five days before lifting of the suspension on lotto operations, claiming that it is less prone to corruption compared with other gaming activities.
Senator Richard Gordon previously said that all money laundering activities would not have proliferated and authorities could have taken full measures to stop them if Duterte had not been “too soft” on China.
