{"id":777029744,"date":"2025-07-31T09:10:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777029744"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:30:49","slug":"philippines-senate-to-hold-hearing-on-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-senate-to-hold-hearing-on-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Philippine Senate to start committee hearings on online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Senate Committee on Games and Amusement has said it will adopt a position against online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Philippine Senate<\/strong> will start committee hearings next week to explore calls to ban or more tightly regulate online gambling. Lawmakers remain divided<\/a> over the issue, but Senator Erwin Tulfo<\/strong>, newly elected chair of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, said the committee would adopt a clear position against online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Wednesday\u2019s plenary session, Tulfo told senator Juan Miguel \u201cMigz\u201d Zubiri<\/strong> that the committee will conduct an investigation immediately.\u00a0\u201cI welcome the privilege speech of Sen. Zubiri concerning the prohibition on online gambling and manifest my full support. Once the membership of the committee has been settled, we will conduct hearings to hear all sides,\u201d Tulfo said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will direct appropriate government agencies like the Department of Finance and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to submit cost-benefit analysis, foregone revenues from unregulated operations, as well as implications to employment, not to mention the social costs,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sen. Erwin Tulfo. Credit: Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senator Loren Legarda<\/strong> also expressed support for the call to ban online gambling. \u201cThe relentless advertising by popular personalities and influencers, combined with the convenience of e-wallets and digital platforms, has made gambling dangerously easy. It is accessible anytime, anywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is no longer just a regulatory issue. It is now a matter of public welfare, mental health, economic stability, and I dare say, even a national security concern,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\u00a0Ferdinand Marcos Jr<\/strong>\u00a0made no mention of online gambling<\/a> in his fourth\u00a0State of the Nation Address<\/strong>\u00a0(SONA) earlier this week, but vice president Sara Duterte has come out\u00a0against online gambling<\/a>. She said that digital platforms make gambling too accessible, leading to rapid financial losses and worsening family debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, finance secretary Ralph Recto has made the case for\u00a0raising taxes and tightening regulations<\/a>\u00a0on online gambling operators and senator\u00a0Sherwin Gatchalian<\/a>\u00a0has also filed a bill proposing tighter restrictions without a full ban. Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chairman and CEO\u00a0Alejandro Tengco\u00a0has said he does\u00a0not agree with calls to ban<\/a>\u00a0online gambling, warning that the move could result in the country losing hundreds of billions in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data reported by local media, more than 50,000 jobs could be lost<\/a> if proposals to ban online gaming in the Philippines are passed. Reports say that licensed online gaming platforms contributed more than PHP112bn (US$1.96bn) to the national government in 2024, with PHP16.6bn (US$287m) going for healthcare and PHP46.32bn (US$802m) as dividends to the national treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a study of 1,250 online gambling players by research firm The Fourth Wall has found that most are opposed to a ban. Some 53 per cent oppose banning regulated online gambling, while only 18.15 per cent support it. Another 16 per cent agree with a ban but with reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Philippine president makes no mention of online gambling in state of the nation speech<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Senate Committee on Games and Amusement has said it will adopt a position against online gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":16426,"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 Philippine Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, led by Senator Erwin Tulfo, is set to investigate and adopt a position against online gambling, citing public welfare and economic stability concerns. This move, supported by several lawmakers, faces opposition from PAGCOR and the Department of Finance due to potential significant revenue losses and job displacement, highlighting a critical policy divergence within the government.","focusai_entities":"Erwin Tulfo, Juan Miguel \u201cMigz\u201d Zubiri, Loren Legarda, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Sara Duterte, Ralph Recto, Sherwin Gatchalian, Alejandro Tengco, Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, Department of Finance, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, The Fourth Wall","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.9), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (1.0), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PAGCOR Revenue Impact?","query":"What is PAGCOR's projected GGR and NGR impact if a full online gambling ban is implemented, considering both direct licensing fees and indirect economic contributions?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Changes?","query":"Beyond a full ban, what specific regulatory compliance and governance framework adjustments are being considered by the Senate for online gambling operations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,158,16333],"tags":[4138,128,337],"class_list":["post-777029744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-online-gambling","tag-philippines","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029744","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\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777029744"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777029763,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029744\/revisions\/777029763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777029744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777029744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777029744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}