Harris campaign reports spending nearly three times as much as Trump in August
Sri Lanka has more women voters than men but no female presidential candidates
AI is helping shape the 2024 presidential race. But not in the way experts feared
The US is more hands-off than usual in the Middle East. It fears making things worse
Japan's Icom: highly unlikely wireless devices that exploded in Lebanon are our products
The Midwest could offer fall’s most electric foliage but leaf peepers elsewhere won’t miss out
Phillies clinch 3rd straight playoff berth and close in on NL East title
Wojnarowski one of the first significant sports 'insiders' to step away from the spotlight
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has ordered foreigners working in offshore gambling firms to leave the country in two months' time, its immigration bureau said on Wednesday, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s decision to stamp out the operators.
Marcos has banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) for their alleged links to crimes, human trafficking and financial scams, and gave the gaming regulator until the end of the year to shut down these businesses.
Philippine immigration chief Norman Tansingco said in a statement foreign workers had 59 days to leave the country. Around 20,000 people are expected to be affected by the order, most of them Chinese citizens.
Workers who stay in the country beyond the two-month period will be deported, he added.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
POGOs emerged in 2016 and boomed in just a few years as companies capitalised on liberal laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.
At their peak, some 300 POGOs operated in the Philippines, but the coronavirus pandemic and tighter tax rules forced many to relocate or go underground. Only 42 mostly Chinese firms have kept their licenses, directly and indirectly employing around 63,000 Filipino and foreign workers.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; editing by Miral Fahmy)
