{"id":777005761,"date":"2023-05-30T08:53:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T11:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777005761"},"modified":"2026-04-22T21:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:28:39","slug":"philippine-authorities-tell-lgus-to-halt-unauthorised-bingo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-authorities-tell-lgus-to-halt-unauthorised-bingo","title":{"rendered":"Philippine authorities tell LGUs to halt unauthorised bingo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of the Interior and Local Government wants local governments to stop running unauthorised gambling under the guise of fundraising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.-\u00a0The Department of the Interior and Local Government\u00a0<\/strong>(DILG) has called upon local government units (LGUs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to strengthen their efforts in\u00a0combating various forms of illegal gambling<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports have bringing to light the prevalence of unauthorised bingo, specifically Bingo sa Barangay (BSB) and Barangay Lucky Bingo (BLB), allegedly being operated by certain LGUs across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DILG-CAR director\u00a0Araceli San Jose<\/strong> urged local chief executives (LCEs) and members of the local sanggunians (legislators) to enforce laws and use their regulatory powers effectively. The objective is to\u00a0eradicate the growing prevalence of BSB and BLB<\/strong> conducted by barangays or their officials under the guise of fundraising activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal frameworks governing gambling in the Philippines include Presidential Decree (PD) 1607-A, designating the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) as the central authority responsible for controlling and supervising games of chance. Additionally, Republic Act 1169 authorises the\u00a0Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office\u00a0<\/strong>(PCSO) to conduct charity sweepstakes races, lotteries, and similar activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Jose clarified that PD 1607-A, PD 1602, and RA 9287 explicitly prohibit unauthorised and unlicensed gambling and games of chance. However, bingo and other games are permitted if played solely as parlour games or for home entertainment, avoiding habitual gambling locations and any disguised betting against the law’s intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Philippines: 3 arrested for illegal cockfighting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Jose emphasised that any gambling or games of chance falling outside the authority of PAGCOR and PCSO, without specific authorisation from special laws, must be regarded as illegal. All LGUs, including local government officials, are required to discontinue any form of unauthorised BSB, BLB, or other illegal numbers games operated by the barangay, municipality, city, or province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Jose further emphasised the obligation for LGU officials to submit reports detailing the actions taken to eliminate unauthorized gambling within their respective jurisdictions and guarantee compliance with regulations issued by regulatory agencies such as PCSO and PAGCOR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaboratively,\u00a0the Philippine National Police<\/a>\u00a0(PNP) has announced the implementation of a \u201cone-strike, no-take\u201d policy on illegal gambling. PNP chief\u00a0General Benjamin Acorda Jr<\/strong>\u00a0vowed to work closely with\u00a0the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)<\/strong>\u00a0to eradicate illegal gambling, which he had made a focus since assuming his role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PNP\u2019s strategy includes deploying specialised anti-illegal gambling task groups at regional, provincial, and city levels. These units will gather intelligence, conduct investigations, and execute strategic interventions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of the Interior and Local Government wants local governments to stop running unauthorised gambling under the guise of fundraising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":26799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the Philippines is compelling local government units (LGUs) to cease unauthorized gambling activities, such as Bingo sa Barangay, often disguised as fundraising. This initiative reinforces the regulatory authority of PAGCOR and PCSO, with the Philippine National Police (PNP) implementing a \"one-strike, no-take\" policy to eradicate illegal operations. The crackdown aims to uphold legal frameworks and ensure market integrity within the gaming verticals.","focusai_entities":"Department of the Interior and Local Government, DILG, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, PCSO, Philippine National Police, PNP, Araceli San Jose, Benjamin Acorda Jr","focusai_location":"Philippines, Cordillera Administrative Region","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PAGCOR\/PCSO Enforcement Strategy?","query":"What specific enforcement mechanisms will PAGCOR and PCSO deploy to support the DILG and PNP's 'one-strike, no-take' policy against unauthorized LGU gambling?"},{"label":"Impact on Licensed Operators?","query":"How will the eradication of LGU-operated illegal gambling impact the GGR and NGR projections for licensed B2C operators in the Philippines?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[23911],"class_list":["post-777005761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005761","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=777005761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777005802,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777005761\/revisions\/777005802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777005761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777005761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777005761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}