“We decided to take advantage of my country’s interests. We decided we needed it,” Duterte said at a televised news conference, but he issued a stern warning to online gambling operators to not evade paying the fees.
POGOs, which prohibit Filipinos from gambling, contribute to government coffers through licensing fees.
The Philippines’ gaming regulator has issued licenses to 60 online gaming firms but banned latest online gaming firms on Aug. 19, as lawmakers and a few ministers have called for tighter controls on Chinese tourists, saying many are undocumented staff whose presence raises security concerns.
The Philippines’ central bank and anti-money laundering authority are investigating the size of the web gambling industry to find out the impact a shutdown would have on the economy.
Still, the Filipino leader said the territorial dispute between the 2 countries “will remain an issue” after Xi said China wouldn’t recognize Manila’s victory in an arbitration that invalidated a few of Beijing’s claims to the disputed waters.
Additional information from Bloomberg
This article was published within the print edition of the South China Morning Post newspaper under the title: Online casinos “permanently”
