The Philippines' crackdown on illegal gambling has been forced to halt due to a sudden public health crisis. The President's Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) announced on June 12 that a massive infection outbreak occurred recently at the Manila Metropolitan Temporary Detention Center (Sunshine Jail), with at least 66 detained foreign nationals diagnosed with HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis, forcing the government to suspend the raid on illegal POGO (offshore gaming operators).
Gilbert Cruz, the executive director of PAOCC, pointed out that currently, about 700 former POGO foreign employees are detained in the temporary center with limited resources and isolation conditions. Many have been diagnosed with infectious diseases, including 66 confirmed cases of HIV, along with syphilis and hepatitis cases. He emphasized that these diseases are highly contagious and pose a serious threat to the safety of both guards and detainees.
Cruz stated that there are still about 8,000 to 10,000 former POGO employees in the country who have not been deported, some of whom are unaccounted for and suspected of continuing to engage in illegal gambling. He warned that these individuals' daily contacts are untraceable, posing a serious public health risk. He called for cooperation between the immigration bureau and the health department to expedite the process.
This outbreak has exposed weaknesses in the Philippine detention system's public health management and has intensified social concerns about the problems caused by illegal POGO. In recent years, cross-border cybercrime cases between China and the Philippines have been frequent, with a large number of Chinese nationals investigated for involvement in fraud, cyber fraud, and human trafficking.
This epidemic may exacerbate tensions in Sino-Philippine law enforcement cooperation and prompt the Philippine government to review the monitoring and detention system for foreign workers. The government is currently coordinating multiple departments to address the epidemic, stabilize the situation, and plans to establish a more comprehensive handling mechanism to prevent similar public health crises in the future.
