Confessions from an employee of a Philippine gaming company:
As a practitioner who once worked on the periphery of the Philippine gaming industry, I have witnessed the industry's shift from prosperity to chaos.
I used to work for a regular gaming group in the Philippines, responsible for managing peripheral businesses.
Some large gaming groups in the Philippines not only operate online gambling but also venture into real estate, KTVs, hotels, and other fields. On the surface, there are no traces of gambling, but the reality is complex and intertwined.
A few years ago, I was stranded here due to travel and stayed locally to seek employment under the pandemic, gradually taking up management roles in hotels and real estate, and slowly realizing the connections between these businesses. Although I have left the Philippines, I still keep up with some of the latest developments within the industry.
Recently, the surge in kidnapping incidents has attracted widespread attention. I would like to discuss the reasons behind this from what I know. These kidnappings are not new, but their recent frequency is closely related to the current gambling environment.
Firstly, it must be acknowledged that the gambling industry was once a legally encouraged sector by the Philippine government. Before the pandemic, online gambling was highly profitable, attracting many companies to recruit employees massively from the domestic market.
However, as the industry developed, some criminals used gambling as a cover for fraud, tarnishing this legitimate industry. Regular gambling platforms focus on long-term operations and reputation; however, fraud groups lure users with high returns and then refuse to pay out, essentially operating a "pig butchering" scheme. The high profits of the gambling industry also attracted many practitioners who operate in a legal gray area, just as Cambodia once became a hotbed for fraud crimes due to lack of regulation.
After the pandemic, the Philippine gambling industry was severely hit. The domestic crackdown on cross-border gambling was unprecedented, and the pandemic's lockdowns and economic downturn led to a sharp decrease in domestic users. The local investments of gambling groups in hotels, dining, and real estate also faced difficulties due to a lack of cash flow. Gambling companies could no longer recruit employees from the domestic market, and many practitioners left after making quick money, leading to a severe shortage of manpower.
At this point, some gambling groups began to recruit local Chinese at high prices. Since most Chinese are reluctant to get involved in the gambling industry, some HR departments started to "buy" people through illegal means. Thus, a group of unscrupulous and desperate individuals turned to kidnapping, specifically targeting Chinese or Chinese descendants to be "sold" into working for gambling groups. This is also why the range of kidnapping victims has recently expanded, even including Chinese descendants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The gambling industry itself has entered a decline phase. As regular businesses failed to relocate to Thailand, Dubai, Ukraine, and other places, many companies returned to the Philippines to resume their old businesses. Although recent reports indicate that the Philippine government plans to completely ban gambling, gambling groups are still struggling to survive. A few days ago, reports showed that Southeast Asia's largest gambling company re-rented an entire office floor in Makati, attempting to make a comeback.
It is touching that in recent months, the Chinese community, social media, and embassies have joined forces to pressure and finally prompted the Philippine police to take strong action, rescuing hundreds of victims. Whether the gambling industry will eventually exit the Philippines, I cannot predict, but I sincerely hope the government will ban this industry soon.
As a former insider, I know that gambling companies lack humane care for their employees and customers. When employees are kidnapped or encounter accidents, no one cares; when customers suffer losses, no one takes responsibility. The Philippines is not suitable for developing the gambling industry. Without a sound legal system, even if gambling is legal, it could lead to social unrest and government corruption, ultimately repeating Cambodia's mistakes.
The chaos caused by gambling in Cambodia is a lesson from the past—poverty, lack of rule of law, crime induced by gambling, skyrocketing house prices, and social unrest are all evident. If the Philippines does not stop in time, it is very likely to follow the same irreversible path.
I sincerely hope that the Philippine government, like Cambodia, will decisively ban gambling, allowing the local Chinese to live in a safe and fair society. How it will develop, we shall wait and see.
