The “PlaySafe Alliance of the Philippines”, a group involving a number of online gambling operators in the Philippines, has praised a recent hearing in the country’s Senate, which is debating a number of individually-sponsored bills either to ban or curb licensed domestic online gambling.
The PlaySafe Alliance was founded by 18 licensees of the nation’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), and one law firm.
“We commend the Senate for surfacing the central truth in its hearing: the harms highlighted – underage access, uncontrolled betting, and financial distress – stem from illegal, unlicensed platforms, not from Pagcor-licensed operators,” said the association in a Monday statement.
The organisation added that licensed operators “are subject to oversight, audits, and sanctions” by the nation’s authorities, and are required to implement “KYC [know-your-customer], age verification, and responsible gaming mechanisms”.
“The Senate’s work draws a clean line: where regulation exists, protection exists; where illegality thrives, protection vanishes,” stated the PlaySafe Alliance.
On Thursday, senators started discussing a path of tighter regulation for the country’s online gambling sector. Three bills seek an outright ban, while two measures propose stricter regulations.
On the same day, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ central bank, ordered providers of electronic wallets (e-wallets) and other digital payment systems to remove links that give access to online gambling platforms in the country.
“We share the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ objectives on consumer protection and financial integrity,” observed the association.
“As an industry alliance, we firmly believe that the most effective way to achieve both is to keep lawful activity inside the regulatory perimeter with traceable, supervised payment rails,” it said.
The PlaySafe Alliance added: “Delinking licensed operators from online payment platforms would not stop gambling. It risks pushing players into the dark corners of the Internet where activity is untraceable, taxes disappear, and harm is harder to detect.”
Senator Erwin Tulfo, who presided over the hearing as chairman of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, said on Sunday that the fight against online gambling was far from over as the firms behind its operations were shifting to other mobile applications.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, a proponent of one of the measures being considered by the Senate, said tougher online gambling laws would be “crucial to dismantling underground operations and protecting Filipinos from the dangers of online gambling”.
He stated: “It’s time to have stricter regulations that have real teeth. A ban alone may not be enough. Online gambling operators would likely just move underground, making it even harder for authorities to regulate operations and putting vulnerable Filipinos, especially the youth, at greater risk.”
