Chinese online casinos have been likened to laying golden eggs, but the Philippines has become increasingly difficult to profit.

A series of mushroom-operated online casinos (Pogo) has recently turned the Philippines into a multi-billion-dollar peso gambling paradise, mostly aimed at Chinese citizens.

Most Chinese-owned Pogo are based in Manila and employ tens of thousands of Chinese workers. The number of Pogo has increased significantly since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.

The Philippine government is said to be out of control, not sure how many Pogo exist, along with the number of Chinese workers and taxes targeting these companies.

Experts and economic officials have repeatedly proposed increasing taxes on Pogo, but the government has not agreed on adjusting the management measures of these companies.

In just the past 3 years, Pogo are ready to pay high prices, acquire premises and offices based in Manila. In a recent report, the gaming and entertainment business management group (Pagcor) of the Philippines government estimated to collect 10 billion pesos ($ 200 million) from licensing Pogo.

"There are economic activities that benefit us, especially the boom in the real estate market thanks to the Chinese," MP Ruffo Biazon said. "The retail industry becomes more active due to the increasing number of Chinese workers coming to the Philippines. Not to mention the operational costs that Chinese companies have to pay to local distributors and contractors."

However, experts say President Duterte's government lacks timely management measures in response to the Pogo boom, such as not adjusting tax and immigration policies for Chinese workers.

Specifically, in a recent letter to Pagcor and the Internal Revenue Service (BIR), Jose Calida, a senior Justice Department official, noted that the government cannot tax Pogo because its revenue is on outside the Philippines. Mr. Calida also opposed the move of the Ministry of Finance and the National Economic Development Agency to impose income tax and value added tax on Pogo. Earlier, Treasury Secretary Carlos Sebastuez announced that Pogo owes at least 21.62 billion pesos in taxes.

However, Mr. Calida's opinion is completely contrary to the President's office. Specifically, Salvador Panelo, the president's spokesman, stated that the decision to tax Pogo is up to BIR and the Ministry of Finance.

In addition, the Philippine government is facing another problem is that there is no specific agency responsible for management, accurate statistics show how many Pogo are operating in the country.

As of November, the Pogo list licensed by Pagcor is 60 companies. However, in a TV interview last week, Senator Joey Salceda said at least 100 Pogo were operating illegally. According to Mr. Salceda, only 10 of the 60 Pogo legally pay taxes.

The government is believed to still not hold the exact number of Chinese citizens working for Pogo. The Ministry of Labor and Employment in April released a report showing that Pogo now employs 56,180 Chinese workers. The report also noted that the actual number could be higher due to the fact that many Chinese people come to the Philippines as tourists but in reality work for Pogo.

After that, BIR admitted not knowing the exact figures of Chinese citizens working in the Philippines. Some reports from other government agencies put the figure at more than 100,000.

The wave of Chinese people rushing to the Southeast Asian nation has raised concerns as Manila tenants have been kicked out of buildings, making room for Chinese willing to pay higher rents.

In addition, crimes involving Chinese people have increased, including the abduction of blackmailing compatriots owed to gambling, prostitution and bribery. Local officials revealed some Chinese gambling companies also bribed or even hired a corrupt Filipino police officer as a bail.

A group of Filipino MPs have submitted to the National Assembly a resolution, demanding the investigation of illegal workers and the "status of non-payment of income tax" related to Pogo.

Senator Biazon, who participated in the resolution, said he wanted to investigate and clarify the allegations that Pogo caused illegal immigration, human trafficking, prostitution and the risk of drug abuse. Chinese people rushed to the Philippines to make a network of illegal trade and even Chinese authorities installed spies.

Philippine Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana has also called on the government to move Pogo away from military bases on concerns about the risk of Chinese spies posing as employees to spy and gather intelligence.

Chinese authorities have urged the Philippines to tighten management of Pogo and protect its workers from being lured into gambling or illegal labor. In response, President Duterte said he was not a fan of online gambling, but was not ready to enact a ban on the activity because it still brings many benefits to the economy. Still, he warned Chinese companies to pay taxes.

Since mid-August, Pagcor suspended the granting of a new operating license to Pogo. At the same time, Senator Salceda submitted a bill to impose a 5% tax on Pogo and a 25% personal income tax on Pogo employees. "If they do not pay taxes, they will not be able to extend their operation licenses," Mr. Salceda said.

Socio-Economic Planning Minister Ernesto Pernia supported the bill and said: "With this tax and strengthening management, the government gets about 45 billion pesos annually."