Call center illustration, from study.com t is incredible how this current administration acquiesces to its Chinese Communist Party (CCP) overlords, contorting itself into a pretzel to justify some of its irrational actions. A case in point here is the partial reopening of POGO sites around the country. POGO, an acronym for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, are "online gambling firms which operate in the Philippines but cater to customers outside the country," according to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), a government agency that issues POGOs their license to operate. A CNN Philippines article yesterday noted that for POGOs to operate at this juncture, "the government considered them to be part of the BPO industry." However, the article points out, "the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, or IBPAP, the umbrella industry group of BPOs, said in a statement on Saturday that 'POGOs cannot be considered as BPO.'" The CNN article listed the following "key differences" between BPOs and POGOs. For one, the industry group said, BPOs are registered with either the Philippine Economic Zone Authority or the Board of Investments, while POGOs get their license to operate from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, it said. While both types of businesses are into offshoring, the POGO companies "primarily do so because they are allegedly unable to practice their betting or gambling functions in their respective shore," the group said. Most POGOs in the Philippines are set up by Chinese interests who reportedly cannot operate in their native country China due to restrictions there on gambling operators. The BPO association also pointed out that they invest in Filipino workers while POGOs mostly employ foreign nationals, BPO companies said they create "higher value" jobs. The great majority of workers in POGOs are said to be Chinese nationals who cater to gaming clients in the Chinese mainland. BPO firms that operate in the country employ highly skilled Filipinos with excellent foreign language skills. Philippine call centers provide clients the world over with top-notch customer service. These firms give Filipinos top-grade business exposure and the ability to hone their skills even further. POGOs, on the other hand, are manned exclusively by Chinese nationals. They only operate here because gambling is prohibited in most parts of China. Philippine military officials have also been voicing concerns about the large numbers of foreign nationals entering the country to work in POGO establishments. They worry that some of those workers might also be involved in espionage. Unfortunately, given this administration's seemingly subservient attitude towards the CCP, it is unlikely that it will put the welfare of Filipinos above others. Sadly, we Pinoys will have to "suck it up" and learn to live with large numbers of foreign workers in our midst—some of whom might even be spying or working to undermine our country. Published 5/3/2020