Philippine senator calls for stricter regulations for online gambling
Senator Gatchalian has presented a new bill.
The Philippines.- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has urged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and other government agencies to intensify actions against illegal gaming. He has filed a bill that seeks to require stricter know-your-customer rules, regulate advertising and prevent e-wallets from acting as online payment platforms for online betting.
The measure also proposes to increase the minimum age for legal online gambling from 18 to 21. Gatchalian said he would not push for the total ban to prevent providers from going underground.
He said: “I strongly urge PAGCOR, along with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), police, and other law enforcement agencies, to conduct a thorough operation to block these websites from being accessed by local internet users,” he said in a statement.
Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, is the main author of Senate Bill No. 2868, which passed its third and final Senate reading in June. The bill, which would institutionalise the Philippines’ ban on offshore gaming operators, has been sent to the House of Representatives.
The proposed legislation would repeal Republic Act (RA) 11590, which legalised offshore gaming. It mandates the forfeiture of all offshore gaming-related properties and equipment to prevent their reuse in illegal operations.
