The senator argues that the consequences of online gambling are too severe to be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.-\u00a0Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva<\/strong> has introduced Senate Bill 1281 seeking to ban all types of online gaming in the Philippines, including POGOs and PIGOs (offshore and domestic betting and wagering).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Villanueva argued that “the consequences of gambling and online gambling are too serious to ignore. The cost of gambling is no longer limited to the loss of money<\/strong>, but extends to the loss of value and life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also noted the criminal activity surrounding e-Sabong earlier this year, and said that “these situations also show that the social costs of gambling are too high: bankruptcy, family breakdown, criminal activity, etc.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the law is passed, anyone who engages in online gambling could face jail time and a fine of up to PHP500,000 (US$8,700).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill has received the support of Aquilino Pimentel III<\/strong>, a senate minority leader. According to Asian Gaming Brief, Pimentel III said: “It will be a bipartisan measure. We can\u2019t afford to dilly-dally on banning POGOs when the nation\u2019s moral fibre and peace and order are on the line. You are the majority. Get your act together. If you say \u2018stop POGO,\u2019 we will support you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project will see intense debate since the revenue the state obtains from online gambling are important for the country. Nonetheless, the president of the Senate, Juan Miguel Zubiri<\/strong>, has agreed to do a survey on the social impact of the POGOs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March,\u00a023 senators<\/strong>\u00a0signed\u00a0Resolution No. 996\u00a0<\/strong>calling for the suspension of e-sabong after\u00a031 people linked to the industry disappeared<\/a>. At first, former president\u00a0Rodrigo Duterte defended e-sabong<\/a>, arguing that it was necessary for the economy because of a lack of funds as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. He then changed his mind and ordered the suspension of e-sabong operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Benjamin Diokno<\/strong>, secretary of finance in The Philippines, has suggested that the country should abolish Philippine offshore gaming operators<\/strong> (POGOs). Speaking at a briefing by the Senate Development Budget Coordinating Committee on the 2023 state spending plan, he told senators that he saw the industry as a risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to GMA network, he said: \u201cIf you ask my personal opinion on this, let\u2019s discontinue the POGO because of the social cost. It also has a reputational risk because people will ask, \u2018Why are they going to the Philippines? They were discontinued in China and Cambodia, why are they going to the Philippines?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diokno said that with China and Cambodia having clamped down on online gaming operations, people may deem the Philippines to be too \u201cloose\u201d or \u201cnot strict\u201d with its rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The senator argues that the consequences of online gambling are too severe to be ignored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has introduced Senate Bill 1281, seeking a comprehensive ban on all online gambling, including POGOs and PIGOs, in the Philippines, citing severe social costs and criminal activity. The bill, supported by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno due to reputational risks, faces debate over the significant state revenues generated by the industry.","focusai_entities":"Joel Villanueva, Aquilino Pimentel III, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Rodrigo Duterte, Benjamin Diokno, Asian Gaming Brief, GMA network","focusai_location":"Philippines, China, Cambodia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Revenue Impact Analysis","query":"What is the projected GGR and NGR loss for the Philippine state if Senate Bill 1281 is enacted, and how will this fiscal gap be addressed?"},{"label":"Operator Relocation Strategy","query":"Which alternative jurisdictions are POGO and PIGO operators likely to consider for relocation, and what are the regulatory and operational challenges associated with such a move?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,158,16333],"tags":[23911,4138],"class_list":["post-33673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33673"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33685,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33673\/revisions\/33685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Philippines finance secretary wants rids of POGOs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n