Malacañang has misgivings about the reported plan of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to move Chinese workers in Philippine offshore gaming operations to self-contained communities.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo expressed concern about the possible rights’ violation if the foreign workers’ liberties are restricted just because of alleged rude behavior.
“If you will restrict their liberties, then there might be a violation because if your only reason is rudeness, you can always subject them to violation of the Revised Penal Code,” Panelo said. “We have laws. If their rudeness falls within violation of the Revised Penal Code, then you can prosecute them,” he added.
Panelo, however, said they would still wait for Pagcor’s official statement on the matter. He claimed the supposed plan to isolate the Chinese workers was still “vague.”
“We haven’t received any official communication from Pagcor regarding its decision to isolate certain Chinese because of…I mean POGOs, because of its – of the Chinese nationals rude behavior,” he said. “We’ll wait for the communication from Pagcor…I want to see first the exact dimension of that plan,” he added.
Pagcor vice president for offshore gaming Jose Tria Jose Tria reportedly proposed the creation of “self-contained communities” for Chinese workers supposedly to limit their interaction with Filipinos. Tria claimed that such POGO hubs would help resolve alleged complaints over the rude behavior of some Chinese workers.
The Chinese government yesterday expressed grave concern over the plan, saying such potential move by Pagcor “may infringe on the basic legal rights of the Chinese citizens concerned.”
It strongly urged the Philippine government to “effectively protect” the legitimate rights and interests of the thousands of its citizens who are currently in the country.
“The Chinese government always requires Chinese citizens overseas to abide by local laws and regulations and not to work illegally in foreign countries,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said, adding that they have repeatedly issued consular reminders to their nationals on many occasions and have clearly stated their position to relevant Philippine agencies.
It pointed out that under Chinese laws and regulations, any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling, gambling overseas, and opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is illegal.
In many cases, it said the employers of Philippine casinos, POGOs, and other forms of gambling entities, “do not apply necessary legal work permits for their Chinese employees.”
“Some Chinese citizens are even lured into and cheated to work illegally with only tourist visas,” the embassy said. (Genalyn Kabiling and Roy Mabasa)