A region of the Philippines is using certain provisions in its charter to allow gamblers in China to place bets online--sort of.
Cagayan Freeport, a 12-year-old special investment zone in the Philippines that includes Santa Ana, is the first Asian jurisdiction to legalize online casinos and has employed proxy bettors to make wagers on behalf of gamblers in remote regions who track the action in Asian casinos and issue instructions via the Internet, according to Bloomberg.
Most Asian countries ban Internet gambling, including Philippine regions outside of Cagayan Freeport, Macau, Singapore and Hong Kong. In China, Internet gaming is a regulatory gray area, as laws banning gambling were framed before the Internet existed and don't clearly outlaw online casinos.
Cagayan Freeport is home to proxy-betting offices to companies such as Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co., which opened in December 2006. Eastern Hawaii assists gamblers in China place wagers in casinos such as Harrah's and MGM Mirage, Macau's largest casino operators.
After just eight months in operation, Eastern Hawaii draws $13 million in bets a day.
Incidentally, Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau announced this week that the region's gambling revenue for the second quarter has jumped 50 percent to $2.45 billion compared to Q2 2006. Furthermore, during H1 2007, the special administrative territory's gambling revenue rose 47.5 percent to $4.7 billion from $3.2 billion in H1 2006.