No rush to ban: Gov't weighing pros and cons of online gambling
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said it was still weighing its options on online gambling, saying that such a decision cannot be rushed.
In a briefing on Friday, August 1, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro responded to parties disappointed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not announce a ban on online gambling during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), unlike his move to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators in 2024.
Castro said that while the Palace was listening to public sentiment, more deliberation was needed before making a final decision.
“Hindi po pwedeng mag-padalos-dalos ang pangulo dito. Dapat aralin po dahil sa totoo lamang po ang mga revenue po na ibinibigay ng lisensiyado na online gambling ay nakakapagbigay talaga ng tulong sa mamamayan,” Castro said.
(The president cannot be hasty about this. It should be studied because in truth, the revenue given by licensed online gambling helps the public.)
Several lawmakers and other advocates have raised concerns over citizens who acquired a gambling addiction due to the accessibility of online gambling apps.
However, Castro said that it was better to figure out first if these cases were due to illegal online gambling apps.
She used the banning of e-sabong (cockfighting) as an example. Despite being banned by former president Rodrigo Duterte, illegal e-sabong still proliferates to this day.
The Palace official even alluded to a certain lawmaker who was caught watching cockfighting during Marcos’ SONA.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto similarly said that regulating online gambling was better, as an outright ban might only drive more people towards illegal gambling.
But it is not just lawmakers criticizing online gambling.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David has called on the government to act on the peril of online gambling.
“When the government acts as promoter, regulator, and beneficiary of gambling revenues, it becomes complicit in the very harm it claims to guard against. No tax revenue is worth the shattered lives, families, and futures lost to gambling addiction,” David said in a letter to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
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