Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is encouraging his countrymen to, “Go ahead and gamble,” after years of discouraging the activity as a moral vice. It’s a moral turnaround that’s based solely on a desire to shore up his country’s cash reserves and illustrates the serious impact the pandemic is having on the economies of countries across the globe.
The Philippines have played host to a thriving gaming industry that’s been focused almost exclusively on foreign customers, since online gambling remained mostly illegal until earlier this year. That industry, which employs thousands of foreig