* Philippines has licensed dozens of online gaming operators
* Growth in online gaming accompanied by influx of Chinese
workers
* Offshore gaming operators a boon for property market
By Karen Lema
MANILA, July 2 (Reuters) - Tessie, her husband and their
adult son recently vacated their home of 37 years in a Manila
suburb to make way for some unfamiliar tenants - 20 Chinese
nationals.
It wasn't an easy decision to let out their 5-bedroom home,
but for 140,000 pesos ($2,730) a month in rent - nearly three
times the norm in their middle-class neighbourhood - it was an
offer too good to refuse, said Tessie. She declined to be
identified by her full name.
Like Tessie, many Filipino landlords are laying out welcome
mats for the surging number of Chinese coming to Manila to work
in online gaming companies taking sports and casino bets,
undeterred by simmering anti-China sentiment and a common
perception that Chinese are taking Filipino jobs.
"I was afraid at first because I heard so many bad things
abut Chinese tenants but I was convinced later on when my
friends told me they were doing the same", said Tessie.
"It's benefiting people like me who need to earn", said the
63-year-old housewife.
Her home is close to a two-tower office building where five
of the nine floors are used by Chinese gaming firms. A Chinese
restaurant and Chinese tea shop downstairs do brisk trade.
Such arrangements are now commonplace across the business
hubs of Manila, where Chinese gaming firms are capitalising on
the Philippines' liberal gaming environment and an insatiable
appetite for gambling in China, which forbids all types of
betting.
The influx started in 2016, coinciding with the rise of
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who since coming into
power has pursued warmer ties with China, and the gaming
regulator's move to license these internet gambling operators.
The number of Chinese work permit holders nearly quadrupled
in two years to 109,222 in 2018, government data showed, making
China the biggest source of expatriate workers in the
Philippines.
In comparison, there were 4,477 work permit holders from
Japan and 622 from the United States last year.
The arrival of Philippine offshore gaming operators, better
known as POGOs, has become a major boon for the property market
just as it was getting crimped by a slowdown in the country's
$24 billion outsourcing sector.
"POGOs came in and saved the office market", said Dom
Fredrick Andaya, a director at Colliers International
Philippines. "We would have had double-digit vacancy rates by
2017 if POGOs did not come".
OFFICE, HOME RENTS SURGE
Philippine gaming regulators have so far licensed 56 POGOs
from 35 in 2016. They have also accredited 204 gaming support
providers that market their products and render customer service
to players abroad, among other services.
Reuters requested comment from at least two POGOs whose
contact details were available online but they did not respond.
Reuters also visited at least one gaming tenant in a building in
the main Makati business district but was denied entry.
POGOs will likely take up 1 million square metres of office
space in Manila by year-end, Andaya said, nearly 12 times more
than in the last quarter of 2016.
Office rents in the Manila Bay area, which has the highest
concentration of POGOs, have risen as much as 150% over the past
two years, with some renting up for 1,500 pesos per square
metre, Andaya said, comparable to rents in Makati.
Alongside, the influx of Chinese workers has fuelled a surge
in demand for residential space, lifting condominium and housing
rents by as much as 50% in areas where POGOs operate, said
Pronove Tai International Property Consultants.
"The sales market increased with investors buying bulk
units...which they lease to Chinese companies as staff housing",
Pronove Tai said.
Chinese accounted for close to 50% of local developers'
foreign sales, Colliers said, helping drive residential property
prices higher.
Shop signs and names of restaurants, spas and pharmacies in
Mandarin have become increasingly common around the capital, and
many retail stores are now using Chinese digital payment apps
WeChat Pay and AliPay.
But lawmakers are growingly worried that the rising number
of Chinese workers could lead to local strife and increase the
competition for jobs when 2.29 million Filipinos are unemployed.
The issue is being compounded by the arrest of hundreds of
undocumented Chinese workers in illegal online gambling outfits
and construction sites and the discovery by authorities that
some of these entities have not been paying correct taxes.
But Duterte has called for tolerance.
"The Chinese, let them work here. Let them be. Why? We have
300,000 Filipinos in China. That's why I can't just say, leave,
or have them deported. What if they make all the 300,000
(Filipinos) leave", Duterte said in a speech in February.
Filipino businessman JP Gaspar, who is renting out his
family's four-bedroom home to Chinese nationals for 100,000
pesos a month, said he is aware the country's embrace of China
may not last longer than Duterte's six-year term in office.
"In the meantime, I'll grab the opportunity", Gaspar said.
($1 = 51.3500 Philippine pesos)
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