The embassy added that tourism is an \u201cimportant component\u201d of the relationship between China and the Philippines. China is particularly interested in keeping the peace between the two countries, as it wants approval to explore for oil in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Despite China’s claims to own the entire body of water, the Philippines has categorically rejected the claim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In his remarks, the ambassador stopped short of implementing any official or diplomatic stance against the Philippines. As a result of the update, it\u2019s unclear why Zibiri stated that China was going to block tourism to the country.<\/p>\n
We stand by our statement. We have a transcript of what has transpired [during our meeting]. We\u2019re not dreaming. What I said was the truth. We have many witnesses who heard our conversation,\u201d said Senator Miguel Zubiri.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAccording to Zubiri, the fault lies with someone in the Chinese embassy. He issued his own follow-up to the embassy\u2019s response, expressing his regret over its assertion that he was disseminating misinformation.<\/p>\n
The senator says the ambassador specifically used the word \u201cblacklist\u201d during their meeting on Monday. He added that the problem was the ambassador\u2019s fault and that he said that the Philippines is now on a \u201cblacklist of tourist sites\u201d because of the presence of POGOs.<\/p>\n
War of Words<\/h2>\n Also attending the Monday meeting were Philippine Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Robinhood Padilla. Initially, according to Zubiri, Gatchalian was just as surprised by the ambassador\u2019s remarks as he was. That statement has now become another source of debate.<\/p>\n
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Soon after Zubiri made his initial remarks about that blacklist, Gatchalian said that it wasn\u2019t yet in place. He added that there is only a \u201cpossibility\u201d that it could happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As the two sides try to figure out who said what to whom, other lawmakers will continue to try and figure out what to do about POGOs. The regulated market is now only a small sliver of what it was a year ago, with just a handful of licensed companies in operation.<\/p>\n
The money they deliver to the Philippines is important for the economy, even if Zubiri downplays the amount. If they’re going to cause a major rift between the two countries, however, those that remain now may not survive for long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It now seems that China hasn\u2019t blacklisted the Philippines, as previously reported by a Philippine Senator. The country isn\u2019t happy with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), but hasn\u2019t yet dropped the ax. Only a couple of days ago, per comments from Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, China was reportedly restricting its citizens from traveling to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":237290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,61],"tags":[81913,13720,13520],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Philippines Forced to Walk Back Claim China Blacklisted the Country Over POGOs - Casino.org<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n