Online Gambling Boom Sparks Require Ban In Philippines

Women, children and bad amongst victims


Lawmakers propose limitations or total ban


Church lambastes 'ethical and social crisis'


By Mariejo Ramos


MANILA, July 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Before helping fellow gamblers gave up the live roulette wheel or give up the magnificence of a royal flush in poker, Filipino Reagan Praferosa battled his own addiction - a passion that practically cost him his life.


Enthralled by the "big-shot identity" that included early gambling establishment success in Las Vegas and later on in Manila, Praferosa went on to lose 50 million pesos ($873,515) in seven years.


He was jailed for theft to cover the financial obligation, sent to rehabilitation centers and then attempted to take his own life.


"Gambling is an emotional disease. It only leads to three locations: prison, institution or death," said Praferosa, who produced a support group in 2011 for Filipinos with a betting addiction.


The group, managed by 5 people, has assisted more than 300 people with online day-to-day meetings. Its members are as young as 13 and as old as 72.


Lawmakers and the Catholic Church fret that dependency is soaring, with ever more gamblers drawn to online games, their need sped up by social-media advertisements and e-wallet platforms.


"The variety of callers we got is 10 times more than normal. Before, callers were dominated by men. Now they ´ re controlled by moms ... children as well," stated Praferosa.


Several lawmakers have submitted expenses looking for constraints on online gambling, such as restricting the usage of e-wallets that make it possible for bigger, much faster bets. Others desire a total ban.


Online betting has actually removed rapidly in the Philippines, with federal government incomes from taxes and charges paid by local operators for the first quarter estimated at 51 billion pesos, ($892 million) according to news reports pointing out information from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the federal government's gaming regulator.


It accounted for about half of the government ´ s total gaming earnings so far this year.


At least 80 electronic gaming operators have licences in the Philippines, according to PAGCOR.


Gian Samson, a PAGCOR worker, said he backs an outright restriction, claiming the human threats far outweigh the economic advantages.


"Online betting need to be stopped right away, and we should identify what is legal or unlawful. It ´ s not contributing anything to our society," stated Samson, an agent of PAGCOR's worker association.


The chairman of PAGCOR, founded in 1977 to regulate video gaming and stop prohibited casinos, turns down a total restriction and rather favors more stringent guideline.


GROWING PROBLEM


Former president Rodrigo Duterte introduced online gaming in 2016, opening the door to mostly Chinese-owned firms that dealt with consumers outside the nation.


President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reversed track and imposed a ban on the outdoors entities last year, citing a "severe abuse" of laws by the industry.


However, domestic digital variations of conventional gambling establishment games, such as slots, poker and roulette, are still permitted and can be accessed from mobile devices.


While online gaming is legal, Samson said regulators have stopped working to limit the or control who can access these video games, as is mandated.


"They are providing Filipinos simple and practical access to gambling. In just a tap of a button, you can deplete your life cost savings," he stated.


Players can join a game, then withdraw all their revenues through popular e-payment apps that even children can utilize, he stated.


DigiPlus Interactive, operator of gaming websites BingoPlus, ArenaPlus and GameZone, stated prohibiting licensed operators would "drive players toward prohibited, uncontrolled sites with no safeguards" along with hit some 50,000 employees in the sector.


"We are open to evolving and improving anywhere needed. If there are brand-new requirements to fulfill, or much better ways to protect players, we will act swiftly and responsibly," DigiPlus Chair Eusebio Tanco stated in a statement.


RECOVERY


The church has decried online gambling as a "ethical and social crisis" and called for a restriction.


"It is now a public health crisis in our society, simply like drug dependency, alcohol addiction and other kinds of dependency. It damages not just the person but also their households," Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, stated in a pastoral letter.


He said online betting injures poor Filipinos who have practically no salary or cost savings and youths who are currently struggling with the cost of education along with other susceptible people.


In one Facebook healing group with more than 25,000 members, one user stated he attempted to drop in setting up an online betting obstructing app called Gamban however failed to suppress his addiction.


Gamban, a software provider based in Britain, can be set up on individual gadgets to block online gaming sites.


Gamban founder Matt Zarb-Cousin said the Philippines is the app ´ s third-highest source of brand-new signups, after Brazil and Britain, showing a rise from about 26,000 visitors in 2024 to more than 32,000 in the first half of 2025.


"It might be driven by the occurrence of online gambling, legal and prohibited," stated Zarb-Cousin.


He stated online casinos are associated with greater rates of dependency than traditional gambling, and about 80% of Gamban users play primarily slots.


"Everyone desires to make much better lives on their own, and gambling is something that can entirely damage that in an extremely brief space of time," said the previous betting addict.


In nations such as Britain, the Netherlands and Norway, Gamban is totally free. In the Philippines, it costs $3.49 a month.


"There should be obligations put on gambling operators to safeguard customers sufficiently. And in my perfect world, there would not be as lots of individuals needing Gamban," he said.


"Regulation, if done correctly, can avoid or at the minimum cut online gambling considerably." (Reporting by Mariejo Ramos. Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths and Ellen Wulfhorst. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://www.context.news)