Last week thousands of Chinese workers left the premier port for good while several POGOs have also shut due to revenue losses. As a result, the remaining three offshore gaming companies are also bound to leave Subic Bay for good, according to SBMA chair, Wilma Eisma,
According to the Philippines Inquirer, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) Wilma Eisma said on Friday that “the owners of the remaining POGOs have said that they are also in the process of winding down.”
Eisma first disclosed the departure of around 1,000 of Subic Bay’s 1,500 Chinese staff last month, since the licensed operator
Eisma stated that, “This is because the POGO operators cannot do business after the declaration of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine last March, and thus were losing money,”. Great Empire Gaming and Amusement Corp. used to pay the SBMA an annual share of PHP533,700 on top of its monthly sublease fee of PHP84,000.
On Friday, Eisma expressed that the nation’s online gaming business was a reflection of a weakened international economic system. “It’s saddening in a way, because the POGO closure is a signal that the economy is not yet there,” Eisma stated, “and I would think [the] economy not just in the Philippines but also worldwide because the POGO clients are not in the Philippines, but outside of it.”
At present, there are 55 licensed POGOs within the Philippines, down from 60 at the start of 2020, while 33 POGOs, 111 service suppliers and 4 Particular Class BPOs have been approved to resume operations since a Luzon-wide lockdown was eased in May.
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