Zubiri: Chinese embassy should clarify if PH is about to be blacklisted or not

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Wednesday, October 12 urged the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, particularly Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, to issue a categorical statement whether or not the country is already blacklisted or is about to be blacklisted by China for tourism due to hosting Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs).

Zubiri issued the call as he stood by his earlier remarks that caused a confusion on the issue, and eventually prompted the Chinese embassy to issue a statement on the matter.

“If he says yes it is possible that the Philippines will be blacklisted—possible being the operative word—that is hard to accept because we do not want to lose Chinese tourists in our country who are really interested to see scenery in our country,” Zubiri said in a Zoom interview with reporters.

“That will weigh a lot on our decisions, because we might lose two (2) to possibly five (5) million tourists every year,” the Senate leader said.

After the Senate Committee on Ways and Means is done with its report on the economic impact of POGOs, Zubiri said they will weigh the pros and cons of allowing the industry to stay or not and approach President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to discuss the issue.

“After the committee hearing of Sen. (Sherwin) Gatchalian is done, we’ll weigh the pros and cons and approach the President. Lalapitan po natin si Pangulong Marcos at ipapakita po natin ang (We will approach President Marcos and show him the) findings ng (of the) report para makahingi po tayo ng konting guidance sa kanya kung ano po ang polisiya ng ating gobyernong –itong bagong gobyerno— (so we can ask for some guidance from him on what would be our government’s –this new government’s—policy) on the issue of POGO,” Zubiri pointed out.

Zubiri said he also finds the statement of the embassy over the tourism blacklist “regrettable.”

“I was shocked by the turnaround. I was shocked by the statement of the embassy and it’s regrettable because we have several witnesses. The best way of saying it is maybe there is something wrong of saying misinformation. I think it should have just been a clarification,” he said.

“We put on record that he (Huang) mentioned the word blacklist and blacklisting. I just don’t know if he said it on a present tense or future tense. Is it possible that we could be blacklist or blacklisted? That was also a lapse in our part. I think we should have clarified if we were already blacklisted. But the message was clear of the blacklisting of countries that hosted POGO. That was the message of the ambassador,” the Senate leader stressed.

Following the ways and means panel hearing on Tuesday, October 9, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian affirmed that the “tourism blacklist” could potentially hurt the country’s tourism.

But the Chinese government is firm in discouraging its citizens from going to countries that hosts online gambling activities “because under their laws, POGOs are illegal,” according to Gatchalian.

But the Association of Service Providers and POGOs (ASPAP), the group that earlier appealed to President Marcos, as well as legislators, to factor in the potential job losses that could result from banning the POGO industry in the country, disclosed that thousands of Filipino families benefit from legit POGOs.

ASPAP said the Filipino workers, roughly 23,000, working in legitimate POGOs are provided meals and transportation allowances. They are also given additional benefits including free accommodations, free meals and free transportation.

Whatever they earn is exactly what they can take home to their families because they have little expenses to worry about since all of their needs are provided by their respective companies.

“Malaki po ang tulong ng POGO industry sa pag-generate po ng employment sa ating mga kababayan (The POGO industry contributes greatly in generating employment to our citizens),” ASPAP spokesperson Michael Danganan said during the hearing.

According to Danganan, the 16 PAGCOR-licensed POGOs and 68 service providers that make up ASPAP currently employ a total of 23,118 Filipinos and 17,130 foreign nationals.

ASPAP members’ operations include 129 offices for customer relations service, IT support, live studio streaming, and functions.

Thirty one point four percent (31.4%) of their Filipino workforce, ASPAP said, serve as team leaders or supervisors, administrative assistants, sport-book handlers, kitchen staff, security officers, finance assistants, and accounting assistants; 16 percent work as data entry clerks; 10.5 percent as customer service representatives; and 10 percent as housekeepers.

The remainder work as general office staff, company drivers, payment officers, maintenance staff, dealers or presenters, data processors, and security guards.