Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil, the officer in charge of the Office of the Press Secretary, gives a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2022. (Photo from the Facebook account of the Office of the Press Secretary)
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has refused to comment on China’s rumored blacklisting of the Philippines as a tourist destination for continuing to allow Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) to do business.
During a briefing on Tuesday, reporters asked Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil, the officer in charge of the Office of the Press Secretary, about the announcement of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri about the blacklisting.
“Actually, we have not received an advisory with respect to the blacklisting issue. So when that arrives, when we have been given the proper advisory, that’s when we will make the proper comment. I don’t want to speculate. So let’s just wait for the advisory — if there is one,” Garafil said in Filipino.
Reporters pressed on, asking her if the blacklisting was fair.
“I don’t want to comment on something that we have not confirmed,” she said.
Earling, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on POGOs, Zubiri made the announcement, citing his talk with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian.
Zubiri said: “The Philippines now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if the tourist going there will be operating or will be joining POGO operations. They do not know if Chinese nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities being done by the triad, by the syndicates operating POGOs. They may also be kidnapped and mistaken for POGO operators. So, that is the reason why there’s been a drop, a significant drop of Chinese tourists.”
Zubiri said the Chinese envoy repeatedly pointed out the “very high” social costs of POGOs.
The Chinese Embassy later issued a denial of the blacklisting.
Zubiri then clarified that the Philippines was not yet blacklisted, but I “may” be blacklisted if it would allow POGOs to continue.
Many critics and public officials have been calling for a government ban on POGOs as they had been linked to a recent series of kidnappings, particularly of their Chinese workers.
Early in September, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that authorities managed to arrest a human resource officer of a POGO firm in an operation in Angeles City, Pampanga.
This has led lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate to call for the revocation of POGO licenses.
However, supporters of the operations warned that bigger problems could arise if POGOs were to be banned. A lot of jobs would be at stake, POGOs could just opt to go underground if their licenses were to be revoked.
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