{"id":777030101,"date":"2025-08-08T09:13:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030101"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:16:33","slug":"philippine-president-to-hear-bishops-families-and-regulators-on-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-president-to-hear-bishops-families-and-regulators-on-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Philippine president to hear from bishops, families and regulators on online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signalled that he won’t support a ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.<\/strong> has announced plans to hold a meeting of <\/strong>stakeholders to explore a response to concerns over online gambling while avoiding calls for a ban. He cited a need for a balanced policy<\/strong> that tackles social harms without fuelling the unregulated market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcos said the gathering will include the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)<\/a>, parents of young people affected by gambling and potential regulators to determine the best regulatory path forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the conference will examine all policy options, aiming to finalise a framework that addresses addiction, prevents underage gambling, and safeguards the public without inadvertently expanding the illegal sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem is not online gambling. The problem is the social effects on our children and those who are addicted,\u201d Marcos said, adding that a ban could lead to more underground operations \u201cwith no control\u201d from authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes amid calls from lawmakers, religious groups, and advocacy organisations to either ban or more heavily restrict online gambling. PAGCOR-licensed operators warn that prohibition could drive Filipinos to black market platforms. <\/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 Church joins calls for online gambling ban<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signalled that he won’t support a ban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777025180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has signaled he will not support a blanket ban on online gambling, instead advocating for a balanced regulatory framework. He plans to convene a multi-stakeholder meeting, including religious groups and potential regulators, to address social harms like addiction and underage gambling without inadvertently expanding the unregulated black market. This stance comes amidst calls for prohibition from various groups, with PAGCOR-licensed operators warning against such a move.","focusai_entities":"Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), PAGCOR","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Framework Details","query":"What specific policy options, beyond a blanket ban, are being considered to address social harms while preventing the expansion of the unregulated iGaming sector in the Philippines?"},{"label":"PAGCOR's Role","query":"How might the proposed balanced regulatory framework impact PAGCOR's dual role as both operator and regulator, particularly concerning its licensing and oversight functions?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,16333],"tags":[225,4138,24804],"class_list":["post-777030101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-legislation","tag-online-gambling","tag-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030101","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030101"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030135,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030101\/revisions\/777030135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777025180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}