{"id":777025508,"date":"2025-04-21T09:53:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T12:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777025508"},"modified":"2026-04-21T23:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:42:27","slug":"philippine-cardinal-expresses-concern-about-increasing-accessibility-of-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-cardinal-expresses-concern-about-increasing-accessibility-of-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Philippine cardinal expresses concern about increasing accessibility of gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said inland online gaming poses “an even greater threat” than offshore operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David<\/strong> has expressed concern about the increasing\u00a0availability of online gambling in the country and warned it could lead to a rise in gambling harm. During his homily at the Chrism Mass at San Roque Cathedral on Maundy Thursday, April 17, David said: “Before, you had to go to a casino.\u00a0Now, the casino is in your pocket. And it will empty your pockets.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Philstar, he said that, although offshore gaming operators are being phased out, Philippine inland gaming operators (PIGOs), pose an “even greater threat.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, senate president\u00a0Francis G. Escudero<\/strong>\u00a0called for a cost-benefit analysis<\/a> to ascertain whether licences granted to\u00a0PIGOs\u00a0should continue. He suggested that the operators, which are licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), may have a negative impact on many Filipinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Claire Castro<\/strong>, undersecretary of the presidential communications office, said the government was conducting studies to evaluate the effects of PIGOs and that president Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.\u00a0<\/strong>might impose\u00a0a ban on\u00a0PIGOs<\/strong> if they are found to be causing issues similar to those that led to the shutdown of offshore gaming operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Castro also highlighted that PIGOs contribute to the Philippine economy through tax revenues and marketing expenditures. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Presidential
Presidential communications undersecretary and palace press officer Claire Castro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said inland online gaming poses “an even greater threat” than offshore operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777009719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David has expressed significant concern over Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGOs), deeming them a greater threat than offshore operators due to increased gambling harm. This follows Senate President Francis G. Escudero's call for a cost-benefit analysis of PIGO licenses, with the government, through Undersecretary Claire Castro, evaluating a potential ban if adverse societal impacts are confirmed, despite their economic contributions.","focusai_entities":"Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Philstar, Francis G. Escudero, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Claire Castro, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PIGO Ban Criteria?","query":"What specific criteria will the Philippine government utilize in its cost-benefit analysis to determine the future operational viability and licensing of PIGOs?"},{"label":"Economic Impact of PIGO Ban?","query":"How would a potential ban on Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGOs) impact the government's projected tax revenues and the broader iGaming ecosystem's economic contributions?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,16333],"tags":[23911,1897,128],"class_list":["post-777025508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-igaming-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-igaming","tag-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025508","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=777025508"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777025523,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025508\/revisions\/777025523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777009719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777025508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777025508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777025508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}