{"id":777030451,"date":"2025-08-18T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030451"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:02:27","slug":"philippine-lawmakers-warn-of-online-gambling-shift-to-messaging-and-e-commerce-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-lawmakers-warn-of-online-gambling-shift-to-messaging-and-e-commerce-apps","title":{"rendered":"Philippine lawmakers warn of online gambling shift to messaging and e-commerce apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Operators adapt after e-wallet crackdown, prompting calls for tighter regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Senators have called for action as online gambling operators in the Philippines relocate services to encrypted messaging platforms and e-commerce sites following an order for e-wallet providers to remove links to their platforms<\/a>. Erwin Tulfo<\/strong>, chair of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, said operators had migrated to apps like Viber, Telegram and Lazada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tulfo said BingoPlus had told customers they could continue playing through its app, website and Viber, while still using e-wallets such as GCash and Maya for deposits and withdrawals. On Lazada, the company\u2019s vouchers are being sold as regular items and later converted into gaming credits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tulfo praised the compliance of e-wallet firms with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas\u2019 order but stressed the need for a \u201cholistic approach\u201d to prevent gambling from reaching young Filipinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian<\/strong> also raised concerns, calling the \u2019 migration a \u201cmalicious and predatory practice.\u201d He urged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to take ation. Gatchalian warned that without stricter enforcement, gambling apps could exploit vulnerable users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate is expected to summon e-wallet companies, banks, and telecommunications providers on the matter.<\/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 Central Bank orders e-wallets to remove links to online gambling platforms<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Operators adapt after e-wallet crackdown, prompting calls for tighter regulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777030458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Following an e-wallet directive, Philippine online gambling operators are migrating services to encrypted messaging and e-commerce platforms to circumvent restrictions. Senators are calling for a holistic regulatory approach and stricter enforcement from PAGCOR, DTI, and DICT to address these new methods of facilitating gambling transactions. This situation highlights significant regulatory arbitrage and operational challenges for iGaming entities.","focusai_entities":"Erwin Tulfo, Sherwin Gatchalian, BingoPlus, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Viber, Telegram, Lazada, GCash, Maya","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Evasion Impact","query":"What specific legislative or enforcement actions are PAGCOR, DTI, and DICT considering to address the circumvention of e-wallet restrictions via messaging and e-commerce platforms?"},{"label":"E-wallet Compliance Risk","query":"How will e-wallet providers like GCash and Maya enhance their transaction monitoring and KYC protocols to prevent indirect facilitation of online gambling, as highlighted by the Senate?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,156,158,16333],"tags":[24743,4138,128],"class_list":["post-777030451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-digital-wallets","tag-online-gambling","tag-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030451","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=777030451"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030465,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030451\/revisions\/777030465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777030458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}