Manila. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday ordered an immediate ban on widespread and mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations, accusing them of venturing into crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnappings, and murder.

His move to ban the Chinese-run online gambling outfits — estimated to number more than 400 across the Philippines and employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asian nationals— came amid a crackdown backed by Beijing.

That has led to the shutdown of several sprawling complexes where authorities suspect thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese, and other nationals mostly from Southeast Asia have been illegally recruited and forced to work in dismal conditions.

Marcos announced the decision during his state-of-the-nation address when he also said that the Philippines would press efforts to strengthen its defensive capability by forging security alliances with friendly countries to counter threats to its territorial interests in the South China Sea, adding that his country would only settle disputes through diplomacy.

The Philippines has a complicated relationship with China, including significant trade engagements and cooperation against crime. But they have also had longstanding disputes in the South China Sea.

Relatedly, Philippine senators ordered the arrest of a town mayor in Tarlac province north of Manila who has failed to appear at public hearings where allegations against her were being investigated, including her alleged links to a large online gambling complex near her townhall and suspicions that she fraudulently hid her Chinese nationality to be able to run for a public office reserved only for Filipinos.

The mayor, Alice Guo, has denied any wrongdoing but has been suspended from her post with her financial assets ordered frozen. Philippine senators say the massive online gambling industry has flourished largely due to corruption in regulatory agencies and payoffs to local officials.

“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder,” Marcos said in his address. “The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop.”

Marcos ordered the gaming agency to wind down the operations of the gambling outfits by year’s end, drawing loud applause in the House of Representatives. He asked labor officials to look for alternative jobs for Filipino workers who would be displaced because of the shutdown.

Indonesia has also declared war against online gambling. According to the Online Gambling Task Force, Indonesia is home to 4 million online gamblers, with 80,000 of those younger than 10 years old. And 440,000 others are only between 11-20 years old. Finance intelligence unit PPATK also alleged that 1,000 legislators across the country had been gambling online.

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