Manila in the time of the coronavirus

The elevator was empty when I stepped inside. There was nothing but the fetid smell of cigarette smoke and the lingering scent of a woman’s perfume. Chanel No. 5 or Perry Ellis 360, I couldn’t tell. 

But not for long. When the elevator moved up to the next floor, a maddening crowd of Chinese workers swarmed inside. It felt like an MRT ride on a rush hour. 

The elevator went up again and a bigger crowd of Chinese workers entered. This went on for about 20 minutes. I felt like I accidentally hopped on the wrong bus or train and got stuck in it for what seemed like forever. 

These Chinese workers are all employees of an offshore gaming company. As for me, I was headed somewhere in the same building, a portion of which was being leased out to POGOs. I know this for sure because I’ve been inside these POGO offices before. 

Are POGOs taking  precautionary measures?

After getting stuck in an elevator filled with Chinese workers, I wonder how these offshore gaming companies are dealing with the coronavirus which is spreading across the globe at an alarming rate.

I asked POGO insiders and here’s what I learned: 

These POGOs have stopped hiring workers from Wuhan, China, said to be Ground Zero for the outbreak. 

“We also do random checks on employees while they are working. We have prepared a separate space or quarantine area in case there are affected workers,” a source said.

They are also acquiring more thermal scanners to check the body temperature of their workers. 

The scanners aren’t cheap — P1.4 million for the sophisticated ones like those in the airport and P54,000 for the handheld devices. But it’s a good move. These companies should really invest in these measures because they employ a lot of people from China.

Inside POGOs

There are at least 55 licensed POGOs in the Philippines. These entities are offshore gaming firms that facilitate online gaming via the internet.

Chinese workers are critical to POGO operations. They provide backroom support to these entities. Their work is divided into different divisions like marketing, customer service, research and gaming.

Marketers send emails to potential customers to entice them to play different online games while those in customer service cater to online gambling concerns. These workers serve Chinese companies that cater to Chinese-speaking players from different countries.

In the POGO offices I visited, I noticed that these are similar to BPOs or call centers.

There are rows and rows of long tables with dozens of desktops, each manned by a Chinese worker. They are young Chinese men and women, mostly in casual clothes — jeans and shirt — seated side by side.

They are all glued to their desktops, typing an email, responding to a chat or addressing a phone call on their mics and headphones.

In all, the government estimates that there are 138,000 foreign POGO workers in the country. Other estimates put the number at 300,000 or more.

That’s a lot of Chinese people and I really hope all POGO operators are taking the necessary steps to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus here in the country.

Hotels, restaurants

It’s good to see that a lot of hotels, malls and restaurants are doing the same thing — checking guests’ temperature with handheld thermal scanners. 

It’s scary and we don’t really know what we’re dealing with. We should all cooperate and subject ourselves to inspection. There should be no cheating or skirting around these precautionary measures.

Tour operators and resort owners must be ready to take a hit. It can’t be business as usual anymore and operators must not be greedy. They should invest in thermal scanners and if necessary, turn away sick guests. 

For sure, tourism will slow down but this won’t last forever.

Airlines 

Airlines are already feeling the negative impact. A lot of people don’t want to travel to China at this time, says Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Gokongwei. 

“It will be a global pandemic and people will not just travel...I hope all these drug companies are working on a cure already,” he says. 

I hope so too.

Health authorities should be ready

The Department of Health should be ready in case the virus hits us. While it’s good to know that there is no confirmed coronavirus case yet in the country, we must be ready for the worst case scenario.

Citizens should also take the necessary precautions and should refrain from spreading rumors and unverified information about the virus. It’s not helping.

This may not be the end of the world and we’re not seeing the Four Horsemen just yet but it doesn’t look good at all and the least we can do is to be prepared. 

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com