POGOs may put PH at risk
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| Online gaming |
And, regardless on whether the Philippines generated an estimated $200 million in revenues from online gaming, it is not a sure guarantee that the windfall will continue unabated by ignoring established immigration laws in the country.
The arrest came after the Chinese Embassy in Makati City tipped the BID about the presence of Chinese individuals who were wanted by the Chinese police, a newspaper report said.
Since it is illegal in China to operate online gaming activities, some Chinese entrepreneurs have made it their bread and butter to dupe young and tech-savvy Chinese citizens to come to Manila in droves on the promise that they could work even without proper work permits.
It's not surprising at all as to why rents had gone up, especially around the areas where Business Process Outsourcing centers are operating right now.
In fact, a friend of mine is extremely gratified that his 14- unit condo building in Pasig City is being rented by a Chinese national for more than P200k a month just to house Manadarin-speaking call center agents who will man online gaming aimed for millions of customers in China.
Another danger that the mushrooming Chinese tourists will bring is competition with thousands of unemployed Filipinos, not to mention the chaos that will be created in the process.
The Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation (Pagcor) is responsible for the issuance of licenses so that these online gaming companies, probably run by Filipino-Chinese businessmen, can operate legally. But still there are loopholes that needed to be plugged because Pagcor may not be able to monitor everything that is taking place in the online gaming markets at the moment.
The country's Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) is not a perfect organization in so far as performance of officials and employees are concerned. Like the Bureau of Customs, the BID is also teeming with corrupt public servants who are capitalizing on foreigners who might have committed immigration infractions. Instead of kicking them out, unscrupulous immigration officials would likely extort money from them while they live in the shadows.
My personal instinct is that some enterprising BID officials might take advantage of these illegal Chinese workers and their employers by requiring them to cough up huge amounts of bribes if only to continue the fly-by-night operations somewhere else. In this way, protection money will continue to flow into the hands of those who were aware of the illegal activities, thus depriving the government of the much-needed taxes.
Another worry that haunts authorities is the personal activities of these Chinese tourists while they are roaming free in Metro Manila and the suburbs. Like Filipinos, these foreigners are not saints not to commit mistakes. And it is hard to reign in on their sexual lives while in the metropolis. Later on, Chinese males will be attracted to local beauties and vice versa. What do you think will happen next is obvious to most people? I'm afraid that cross-bredding may again emerge as another worry for Philippine demography considering that chinky eyed babies may also mushroom anywhere else. The problem doesn't end here. When they leave the country, the impregnated partners and babies will remain, thereby adding more burdens and complicating the cities' already strained basic services.
And who knows, maybe, some of them are Chinese spies or militias sent to keep close tabs on the different activities in major cities in the country?
Prior to the occupation by the Japanese Imperial forces of the Philippines, Emperor Hirohito first deployed advanced batallions of intelligence officers who disguised themselves as businessmen. When war was declared, the Japanese soldiers knew already in advance what do during the occupation.
From the way political developments are going on between Manila and Beijing over the disputes in the South China Sea, there is likely semblance of the same scenario that might take place in the future.
With more than 300,000 Chinese nationals now spread out in Metro Manila and the provinces, it is hard to believe that not a bunch of them was sent to work as spies for the Chinese government? And the biggest failure of the Duterte administration is when the country gets a big surprise because the intelligence community lacks the technological capability to monitor the activities of these foreigners.
With some of the islands within the jurisdiction of the West Philippine Sea already intruded upon by China, infiltrators can easily enter the province of Palawan using Chinese fishing vessels in the dead of night. Lacking coast guard patrols to closely monitor movements at the different ports, not to mention the long stretch of coastal areas facing the South China Sea, will all the more make it much easier for Chinese nationals to be smuggled in.
Now, the issue is largely dependent on whether there is an inter-agency task force assigned to keep tabs on the thousands of Chinese workers based in Metro Manila who work for various online gaming companies that cater to customers in mainland China.
Perhaps, it is only appropriate and timely that the Blue Ribbon Committee of the Senate may explore the initiative of conducting a public hearing so that resource speakers may be invited to discuss the pros and cons on whether it is to the best interest of the country to continue online gaming activities or not?
Otherwise, it will be too late for the Philippines because it has been swarmed by more and more Chinese nationals whose intentions are varied.
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