As senators and media have emphasized the number of Chinese migrants working in the Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGOs) industry, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) have mostly stayed quiet. That changed on March 11, as CEO Andrea Domingo decided it was time to get the numbers straight.

c“While Pogos cater to foreign customers and employ foreign customer service representatives who could effectively address their concerns, other areas such as information technology support, live studio and gaming platform providers employ local workers,” Domingo told reporters.

In total, she cited 30,521 Filipino employees currently working at POGOs. “This number does not include employees in the ancillary industries, such as real estate, transportation and retail,” Domingo added.

This is a minority of the 120,976 workers in the industry, with 69,613 of these being Chinese. But considering the vast majority supporting the industry through ancillary services are bound to be Filipino, and most Filipinos can’t deliver the Chinese language skills required at most POGO firms, its still a significant chunk.