Even if the Chinese government is able to have their way by ensuring the Philippines government ban gambling, it does not mean the people will stop carrying out their gambling actions. What they would successfully do would be to create room for it to be done under the radar and from the preying eyes of government and its agencies. It then also means loss of revenue to the government of Philippines that would have been generated from the issue of licenses and other fees they would be obliged to pay because you cannot ban and still expect revenue from that same source.
It is a good point and this is the perception I also looked at from. There is a saying that a horse can be forced to the rivers but difficult to force to drink water. You can force them to ban it but what makes you think they will not find alternative means to play?
I think that the Chinese went to the extreme and I am very disappointed in such action but I only hope Philippines will not be under pressure to actually ban gambling in their country. I doubt if gambling was generating revenue for Philippines, if it is, then definitely, they will not even pay attention to Chinese government, they both have their territory.