Duterte to study impact of China's proposal to ban POGOs, Palace says

BEIJING, China — President Rodrigo Duterte will look into the possible impact of China's appeal for the Philippines to ban online gambling, which is generating hundreds in millions of tax revenues. 

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said online gambling, which employs about 130,000 Chinese nationals in the Philippines, was one of the topics discussed during Duterte's bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday here. 

Panelo said Xi expressed appreciation of the Philippines' decision to suspend new POGO applications but said China would appreciate more if the online gambling operations are completely stopped.  

"He (Xi) explained...gambling is illegal in China and most of the players there are Chinese nationals. And also, crimes are committed with respect to that like money laundering. That is the concern of the (Chinese) president," the presidential spokesman said in a press briefing Friday here. 

Asked how Duterte responded to Xi's remark, Panelo said: "The president didn't respond to that."

Panelo said the Philippine leader was not able to react because Xi had raised several aspects of the bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing. 

Pressed about Duterte's position on the proposed POGO ban, Panelo replied: "The president has not said anything about it but I suppose he will have to study it. Although there was no request, there was only an implied request, the president, most likely, will study (it)." 

Panelo said the finance department has to be consulted on the possible effects of a POGO ban on state revenues. 

"We have to determine what we will lose if we stop online gaming. Will it affect the budget? You must remember revenues are coming in. They have to consult with the finance department," he said. 

"For now, what we can do is we can be very strict on the operation, follow rules and regulations and the law." 

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has collected about P200 million in taxes from foreigners working for POGOs. The finance department previously said the government foregoes about P24 billion a year for every 100,000 POGO workers that do not pay taxes. There are about 130,000 Chinese POGO workers in the Philippines.