{"id":777034240,"date":"2025-11-06T08:27:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777034240"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:22:13","slug":"philippine-finance-secretary-insists-on-his-opposition-to-online-gambling-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-finance-secretary-insists-on-his-opposition-to-online-gambling-ban","title":{"rendered":"Philippine finance secretary still opposed to online gambling ban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Department of Finance favours stricter regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- Finance secretary <strong>Ralph Recto<\/strong> has reiterated the case for tightening regulations on online gambling operators rather than a ban. He said the industry could have a net benefit for the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to BusinessWorld, Recto said the <strong>Department of Finance (DoF)<\/strong> remained firm in favouring <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-finance-secretary-urges-tax-hike-rather-than-online-gambling-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tighter oversight of the e-gaming industry<\/a> over a ban. \u201c(The DoF\u2019s position) is based on our cost-benefit analysis that shows that the industry can have a net benefit impact on the economy if certain negative externalities are controlled through more stringent regulations,\u201d he said in a digital message.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe reiterate that the Department of Finance will follow the policy direction of the president,\u201d said Recto, referring to <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-president-makes-no-mention-of-online-gambling-in-state-of-the-nation-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.<\/a> He has pledged to address the topic, since the time some lawmakers began earlier this year calling for a ban, though said he would not act in haste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent interview with Focus Gaming News, a PAGCOR representative noted that the regulator also remains <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pagcor-is-not-in-favour-of-a-total-ban-on-online-gambling-and-instead-advocates-for-stricter-regulation\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pagcor-is-not-in-favour-of-a-total-ban-on-online-gambling-and-instead-advocates-for-stricter-regulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposed to a ban<\/a>. The House of Representatives\u2019 Games and Amusements Committee is expected to issue a report by year-end on a consolidated bill that would propose either a ban or stricter rules.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/UE6M4QUVOZPYLBRQXSROQVGVEE-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-president-signs-into-law-anti-pogo-act-of-2025'>Philippine president signs &#8216;Anti-POGO Act&#8217;<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Finance favours stricter regulations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777029233,"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 Department of Finance (DoF), led by Secretary Ralph Recto, advocates for enhanced regulatory frameworks for online gambling operators over an outright ban, citing potential net economic benefits if negative externalities are effectively controlled. This position aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s cautious approach and PAGCOR's opposition to a ban, as the House of Representatives prepares a consolidated bill on the matter.","focusai_entities":"Ralph Recto, Department of Finance, BusinessWorld, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., PAGCOR, House of Representatives\u2019 Games and Amusements Committee, Focus Gaming News","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.9), marketing_crm (0.85), payments_fraud_aml (0.85), investor_analyst (0.98), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Economic Impact Analysis?","query":"What specific economic benefits and negative externalities did the Department of Finance's cost-benefit analysis identify regarding online gambling in the Philippines?"},{"label":"Legislative Bill Details?","query":"What are the key provisions being considered in the consolidated bill by the House of Representatives\u2019 Games and Amusements Committee, particularly regarding the definition of 'stricter rules' versus a 'ban'?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[225,4138,24804],"class_list":["post-777034240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","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\/777034240","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=777034240"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777034240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777034254,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777034240\/revisions\/777034254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777029233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777034240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777034240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777034240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}