A Petition by the People of the Republic of Palau — Thanking our Leaders in the OEK for their hard work to diversify our economy, but respectfully asking them to abandon "online gaming" and seek different options which are more in line with our values and abilities.

We, the People of Palau, represented by those who have signed this Petition, respect and appreciate the hard work of our leaders in the Olbiil Era Kelulau, who are diligently working to increase our revenue sources and "diversify" our economy in this difficult economic time. However, we, the People of Palau, respectfully reject the option of a large "online gaming" industry to be created in Palau as proposed by House Bill No. 10- 124-12, HD2.

The Gambling industry, whether online or onsite, is not consistent with our values as Palauans, and that is why we continue to reject the Casino as a way to "diversify" or "grow" our economy. Gambling of all sorts leads to addictions and the  financial ruin of families around the world, and is closely tied to other destructive human behaviors including alcoholism, drug addiction, and related crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking, prostitution and even violence that can lead to homicides. These are not the values of Palau and we do not wish to build our economy around them. Even "offshore online gambling" has the same effects, and our economy should not be built around the destruction of local and/or foreign families.

Furthermore, the "online gaming community" to be established in Palau will require immigration to Palau by many thousands of foreigners, who will mostly be very young and likely not fluent in Palauan or even English. This will lead to major increases in crime, which particularly include corruption, human trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking, money laundering, and even violence that can lead to worser crimes. The owners of these businesses will also tend to be the deceitful-type of people, because that is the nature of the gambling industry.

Our gaming law is outdated with no regulations, after many years. Four (4) licenses have been issued, with no operations due to lack of financial and operational regulations - let alone the lack of enforcement capacity required for cyber security. No visible economic benefit has ever appeared in Palau, and it does not make sense to "double-down" on an idea that has obviously not worked anyway. If we are not capable of regulating or following through on a mere 4 licenses, how can we possibly control 30 more licenses as proposed in this HD2 bill? We need to at least make it work with the original license holders in a legal and a mutually beneficial manner before we open the corruption flood gates with 30 more licenses. Even this is not in the interest of the majority of Palauan people especially those of us who are residing in Palau.

It is apparent that to run a real “online gaming” business requires hundreds or even thousands of employees. If there are 30 of these “businesses,” that could mean 30,000 or even more young foreign workers immigrating to Palau. This strategy begs the question - why would we import thousands of workers from China that is the source of the world’s deadliest virus, COVID-19, in our current lifetime? This bill, if enacted, would destroy our society, infrastructure, and peaceful way of life. We would be immediately overwhelmed and outnumbered, then becoming a small “minority” in our own country.

Additionally, we all know that there were ongoing “busts” just earlier this year of illegal online gaming operations. As we saw, these operations involved hundreds of young men who did not speak Palauan or even English, and who appeared to be living a low standard of “shut in” lifestyle, with no benefit to local businesses or the local community. And they operated without any licenses, making money illegally in Palau and impaired the agreements and licenses of legal license holders. We do not want to multiply these operations by 30x. Certainly not!

Also, what happened to the “online gaming task force” that was in operation just a few months ago? Have these criminals all been removed from Palau, or are they still here and waiting to benefit from this new policy. Will these people who broke our laws and maybe are still breaking our laws to be rewarded by this new law? Is this law actually meant to apply to these people for their benefit? Are we “legitimizing” the criminals we just busted a few months ago? Are the few Palauans involved thinking that allowing a gambling industry in Palau will benefit their children or our future generation instead of destroying the beautiful Palau that our heirs deserve?

There is no evidence that this gambling industry has brought financial benefits to Palau, but there is great evidence on the other hand, that it is a corrupt foreign industry that attracts criminals and causes destruction to families and communities. This should not pass through the OEK without public input, and there have been no public hearings by the OEK. A Hearing conducted by HOD was by invitation only. We, the People, must be heard on an issue that will impact our entire communities and probably cause us to be a minority in our own island nation, let alone allow this to completely destroy our Palau for future generations.

Again, we thank our leaders for working on these ideas. However, we reject this idea and respectfully ask that we all keep looking for new concepts for revenue, such that will not sacrifice our beloved home for a little bit of foreign criminal money in only a few people’s pockets.