PAGCOR to launch app helping players identify licensed online gaming sites
The application will build on PAGCOR’s 2025 launch of the PAGCOR Guarantee website, which allows consumers to verify whether online gaming providers hold a valid licence.
The Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has revealed plans to launch a mobile application to help online gaming players identify and access platforms licensed and regulated by the state gaming regulator.
PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco disclosed the plan on Monday, August 24, during the agency’s budget hearing before the House Committee on Appropriations. He said the app would be intended to strengthen player protection and address the use of illegal online gaming platforms in the Philippines. The aim is to launch it before the end of 2026.
The app will build on PAGCOR’s existing efforts to help consumers distinguish between licensed operators and illegal gaming websites, Tengco said. The PAGCOR Guarantee website launched last year allows members of the public to check whether an online gaming provider is licensed by the regulator.
The regulator said the new app will make it easier for players to identify authorised platforms rather than relying on potentially unreliable information when choosing where to play online.
Tengco told lawmakers that around 50 per cent of online gaming sites accessed in the Philippines are illegal. He said keeping players within the regulated sector has remained an ongoing challenge.
He said: “For those who patronise online gaming, we encourage them to use the PAGCOR App. The easier it is for them to identify where they can legally play, the better we can protect them from illegal operators and the risks that come with unregulated gaming.”
PAGCOR said it is coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center in efforts to prosecute illegal online gaming operators.
