I am happy to note how the governments of the Philippines and China have been effectively working together against crimes affecting their respective citizens.
The China Embassy, in a statement, says it is ready to continue its strong law enforcement cooperation with the Philippines for the purposes of being able to provide better protection and ensure the utmost safety and well-being of the people of China and the Philippines.
Weeks ago, on August 1 to be exact, the law enforcement authorities of both countries effectively cooperated in the repatriation of some 30 Chinese citizens engaged in offshore gambling in the Philippines.
This was also done, by the way, with the coordination and assistance of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines.
The first batch of repatriation was jointly implemented by both countries and came, following a stern declaration made by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. during his State of the Nation Address or SONA.
There, he categorically announced and declared a total ban on all POGOs, with a directive for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to already wind down the operations of the remaining POGOS until this yearend.
For its part, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines pledged its all-out support to the smooth and orderly repatriation in handling of cases under the ban. All this, while they also work to ensure that the legitimate rights of the persons concerned are not violated.
The announcement made by President Marcos is actually a very welcome development as far as China is concerned. For several years now, the China Embassy had been appealing to the Philippine government to shut down all POGOs in the country.
In its press statement in fact, the Embassy expressed strong belief that the decision made by President Marcos, Jr. echoes the calls of the Filipino people in general and serves the common interests of the people of both countries, judging from how the people rose to applaud the President when he announced his firm stance to ban POGOS once and for all.
On the part of the Embassy, Chinese law prohibits any and all forms of gambling.
Be it online gambling, cross-border gambling by Chinese nationals and running casinos outside China to solicit Chinese nationals. these are all illegal in China.
The Chinese government has always taken tough measures to combat crimes such as gambling and kidnapping.
In fact. the Chinese government strictly cracks down on its own citizens engaging in overseas gambling businesses including POGO.
It is of the belief that POGO indeed breeds serious crimes and gravely undermines the interests of both the people of the Philippines and China.
As far as crimes are concerned, the China government is committeed to cooperate and coordinate fully.
Last July 13, law enforcement authorities of both countries jointly conducted the successful repatriation to China of three suspects who were found to be engaged in kidnapping in the Philippines.
This operation fully demonstrated once again the strong determination of the two countries to jointly combat kidnapping and other crimes related to offshore gambling, a statement from the Embassy said.
The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has vowed that it will continue to strengthen practical law enforcement cooperation with the Philippine side, support the latter in addressing the root cause of crimes related to offshore gambling and join hands to crackdown kidnapping and other crimes.
