“Ambassador Huang said that the Philippines now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if a tourist will be joining Pogo operations and they don’t know if their nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities being done by the triad, by the syndicates operating Pogos,” Zubiri said during the Senate ways and means committee hearing on Pogo.
“They may be kidnapped, mistaken for Pogo operators. That’s the reason why there’s been a significant drop in Chinese tourists. By the way, they are the largest number of tourists pre-pandemic,” he added.
Zubiri was referring to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian who paid him a courtesy visit on Monday, October 10.
The lawmaker said China has been among the top contributors of tourists in the country, citing data from the Department of Tourism that 1.74 million Chinese tourists visited the country in 2019, before the closing of borders due to Covid-19.
Pogos in the country are currently in hot water due to their involvement in the series of kidnapping incidents in the Philippines.
Hundreds of foreigners, mostly Chinese, were also rescued recently from the hands of Pogo operators who were allegedly forcing them to work, some of them were even being maltreated.
These incidents prompted the Senate to conduct an inquiry into Pogo-related matters, including whether it is still worth it for them to be allowed to continue their operations in the country.
Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chairperson Senator Grace Poe said the country’s revenue from Pogo does not justify the reputational damage it causes the country.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said from its peak of P7.9 billion annual revenue, the total revenues in the industry dropped to P3.9 billion in 2021.
He expressed support for the stoppage of Pogo operations in the country because of their social cost. (SunStar Philippines)