Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan has issued a letter.
The Philippines.- A Catholic archbishop, Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, has joined calls to ban Chinese offshore gambling operators in the Philippines. In a pastoral letter, Villegas wrote that any benefits are outweighed by serious threats.
He wrote: “The recent raids that revealed the extent of the evil at these Pogo hubs [sic], including incidences of human trafficking, torture, and money laundering, make it a moral imperative that they should no longer be granted the protection of the law and should, in fact, be outlawed.”
Several Philippine lawmakers are calling for a ban on offshore gaming companies. A security expert has described operators as “Trojan horses” that could be used by China to stage “surprise attacks” against military installations.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila has also called on the Philippines to prohibit offshore gaming operators. In a statement on Friday, it said nearly 3,000 Chinese nationals had been implicated in crimes such as telecom fraud related to offshore gaming operators since 2018.