The government of China has reportedly added the Philippines to its ‘blacklist’ of overseas tourist destinations it believes its own nationals should avoid due to a growing range of public safety concerns.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, this news was first revealed by Philippines Senator Juan Miguel ‘Migz’ Zubiri following a meeting the experienced politician is said to have had with the Chinese ambassador to his country, Huang Xilian. The source disclosed that the 53-year-old believes Beijing has become increasingly concerned with the safety of its nationals while in the archipelagic nation following recent raids on a number of local iGaming firms holding Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) licenses.

Reinforced restraints:

China reportedly first acknowledged the existence of a ‘blacklist’ of foreign holiday destinations in August of 2020 with the nations of Cambodia, Australia and Vietnam believed to have been among its first entrants. The giant country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism purportedly later claimed that such locales were hurting the domestic vacation industry by enticing players overseas to enjoy their casinos and vowed to impose heightened restrictions on anyone wishing to travel to one of the enumerated jurisdictions.

Zubiro reportedly stated…

“The Philippines is now part of a ‘blacklist’ of tourist sites because they do not know if the tourist will be joining POGO operations and they do not know if the Chinese nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities being done by the triads or by the syndicates operating POGOs. They may also be kidnapped after being mistaken for POGO operators.”

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Zubiri moreover serves as the President for the Senate of the Philippines and he reportedly offered up his ‘blacklist’ assertion as one of the main reasons why the number of Chinese nationals travelling into the country has recently dropped. However, the office of Philippines President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr purportedly responded by stating that it was unaware of any such exclusion and has ‘not yet received an advisory with respect to that blacklisting issue.’

Extensive expulsions:

Inside Asian Gaming used a second report to explain that this issue has come to the fore just as the Philippines revealed it is deporting more than 48,000 foreign workers following the cancellation of their employers’ POGO licenses. This disclosure from the Asian nation’s Bureau of Immigration purportedly followed a number of raids in which Chinese nationals were found to be working illegally.

Definitive deadline:

Dana Sandoval from the Bureau of Immigration reportedly divulged that foreign employees of iGaming enterprises that have recently had their POGO licenses terminated now have 59 days to leave the country. The experienced bureaucrat purportedly furthermore pronounced that this amounted to ‘more than 48,000’ people with anyone who ignores the order due to be subjected to ‘deportation proceedings.’

A statement from Sandoval reportedly read…

“Admittedly it’s quite a tedious task but we are confident that within the month we will see a breakdown of which of these numbers have already left the country and which are the ones that would be leaving. Besides the order to leave, it’s a part of the regular procedure of visa cancellation and there is no need to hold custody of the foreign national, which results in fewer expenses for the government.”