Embassy on 'blacklist': We expect more Chinese tourists in Philippines after pandemic

In POGOs, bets are made by players abroad through service providers based here in the Philippines.

Tory Ho / AFP / File

MANILA, Philippines (Update 5:44 p.m.) — The Chinese Embassy on Tuesday did not directly contradict a claim that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators have put the Philippines on a "tourism blacklist" but said that tourism has helped the relationship between the two countries grow and that China was the second biggest source of visitors to the Philippines before the pandemic.

The embassy also confirmed that Ambassador Huang Xilian met with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Robinhood Padilla on POGO-related crimes and on areas for cooperation like renewable energy and e-commerce but did not confirm Zubiri's claim at a hearing earlier in the day of the Philippines' inclusion in a tourism blacklist.

"[T]ourism is an important component of practical cooperation between China and the Philippines which has helped further deepen long-time friendship between the two peoples," the embassy said, adding nearly two million Chinese nationals visited the Philippines in 2019.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/10/11/2215905/embassy-stresses-gambling-even-through-pogos-illegal-chinese-nationals