MANILA, Philippines — Electronic wallets (e-wallets) must unlink from online gambling platforms, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered Thursday, August 14.
Meanwhile, the Senate has begun deliberations on several bills aimed at more strictly regulating or outright banning online gambling.
Related Stories
“We gave them 48 hours, your honor, to take down the links,” Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said.
When asked by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano when the order was given, Tangonan said, “Today.”
This means that by Saturday, there should be no more online gambling games accessible through e-wallets.
However, senators questioned why e-wallets would need the two-day grace period. Sen. Joel Villanueva and other senators said these platforms could comply immediately if they wanted to.
“We’re removing the in-app links from the websites,” he added.
However, if consumers access online gambling sites directly, they could still pay with e-wallets.
Tangonan explained that the institutions need time to remove the links to these sites.
He added that this also gives consumers time to withdraw their money from their online gaming accounts.
However, discussions for long-term regulations are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) official Alejandro H. Tengco said that they are considering allowing gambling only in betting stations, much like how bets are manually placed in horse racing.
When the issue of the possible suspension of credit card use in online gambling was raised, Tengco clarified that PAGCOR does not allow credit cards to be used to pay off gambling debts.
Online gambling has heavily proliferated in the Philippines, with advertisements prevalent both in physical spaces and online.
Making this easier is the presence of gambling games within e-wallets.
However, stories of people ruining their lives through online gambling are widely discussed, with church and civic leaders decrying the lack of immediate action on the government's part.
Lawmakers are split on whether to ban online gambling completely or to heavily regulate it.
Those who are against an outright ban argue that banning online gambling would only push people toward illicit activity.
This is the same stance the executive branch has taken, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saying that an outright ban might only drive more people to illegal gambling.