Gatchalian: China blacklist issue a case of 'misappreciation'

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday said reports that the Chinese government has allegedly included the Philippines in its blacklist of tourist destinations due to illegal gambling operations was a simple case of ‘misappreciation.’

“Simpleng kaso lang ‘to ng misappreciation. May ipinapaliwanag si Ambassador (Huang Xilian) na hindi namin na-appreciate nang gaano dahil sa marami na ring pinag-uusapan,” Gatchalian said in GMA News’ Unang Balita interview.

(It's just a simple case of misappreciation. The Ambassador was explaining something that we didn't appreciate that much because we were already talking about a lot of things.)

“Pero ang punto ni Ambassador ay puwedeng magkaroon ng blacklisting dahil ‘yung ibang bansa na may POGO at online gambling ay na-blacklist. ‘Yan ang pagkakaintindi namin,” he added.

(But the Ambassador's point is that there can be blacklisting because other countries that have POGO and online gambling have been blacklisted. That's our understanding.)

Gatchalian made the explanation after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Tuesday, citing Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, that the Philippines is now part of their blacklist of tourist sites due to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).

The Chinese Embassy, however, denied this, calling the report “misinformation.” They also released a statement saying that POGO-related crimes are bad for China as they are for the Philippines.

“Mabuti na nga na pinaliwang dahil may misappreciation n'ung usapan. Mabuti na rin na napaliwang ng Chinese Embassy na walang blacklisting na nangyari,” Gatchalian said.

(It's good that the Chinese Embassy explained this because there was a misappreciation in the conversation. It's good that they confirmed that no blacklisting happened.)

The lawmaker also said that it will not affect the Philippines that much if the POGO operations cease as it only provides for 0.24% of the economy.

“Ang aking tututukan lang at bibigyan ng malaking pansin ‘yung 20,000 na mga kababayan natin na nagtatrabaho sa POGO. ‘Yun ang dapat bigyan ng pansin dahil kung umalis ang POGO, ang mawawala lang naman sa atin ‘yung trabaho na 20,000,” he said.

(I will only focus on the 20,000 Filipinos who work for POGO. We should pay attention to that because if POGO leaves, we will only lose 20,000 jobs.)

In a statement, Senator Robin Padilla, who was also present during the meeting, said Huang told them that the Chinese government is “keeping tabs over possible crimes” stemming from POGO and thus “promptly warned its nationals visiting the Philippines.”

“The Ambassador made it clear that China does not allow its citizens to gamble online, invest in online gambling businesses, or work in online gaming businesses such as POGOs.  Under China's laws, it is a crime for Chinese nationals to gamble in other countries—and to open casinos attracting Chinese as primary customers,” he said.

“Ambassador Huang pointed these out to illustrate why POGO operations should not be allowed in our country, citing the crimes and other problems associated with it,” he added.

He further said aside from POGO operations, also discussed during the meeting were renewable energy, electrical cars, e-commerce, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.—AOL, GMA News