The chairman of the Philippine gaming regulator, Alejandro Tengco, suggested on Tuesday that the answer to lawmakers’ concerns about online gambling within the country was tighter control, not a total ban.
In an extensive interview with local outlet One News – reported also by other media – Mr Tengco (pictured in a file photo), head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), stated: “Pagcor’s current stand is not a total ban, but stricter regulation.”
There has been a growing chorus of voices in Congress calling for changes to the online sector, ranging from tighter restrictions on access to digital gambling platforms, to additional taxes, and a ban on the use of electronic wallets (e-wallets) for gambling purposes, as well as calls for a complete ban.
Since a crackdown last year on the formerly Pagcor-licensed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) sector aimed at overseas customers, the country’s online sector has been licensed to serve specifically the domestic market.
But the Pagcor chairman acknowledged that offshore-based operators targeting Filipino customers remained as a problem.
“Right now, we can only capture about 45 to 50 percent of the entire online gaming sphere or the industry because there are so many illegal operators that are still operating,” Mr Tengco explained.
He added: “The proliferation of online illegal operators unfortunately does not come from our country but from other countries that target Filipino customers.”
In a Friday statement, Pagcor had said it remained “fully committed” in its work against “illegal online gaming activities”.
In his Tuesday comments, Mr Tengco indicated properly-licensed online gambling brought in more than PHP100 billion (US$1.77 billion) annually for the country’s public coffers.
“The current government is earning hundred billions directly and indirectly. Let’s not ignore it,” Mr Tengco said in Tagalog, as cited by One News’ transcript of his interview.
He indicated licence fees earned from online gambling were approximately PHP50 billion specifically in 2024. That was in addition to what operators paid to the tax authority, the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Mr Tengco was quoted as saying that “one of the largest online gaming companies licensed by Pagcor” had paid “over PHP30 billion or PHP40 billion… in taxes”.
Jobs and public income
The Pagcor boss also stated approximately 32,000 people were directly employed by the online gaming industry, with more working in ancillary businesses.
“So the impact of this is hundreds of billions [of pesos] in revenue for our country… could potentially be lost if the total ban is enacted,” he asserted.
Claire Castro, a spokesperson for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said on Monday that the country’s leader acknowledged the dangers of unregulated online gambling and would not oppose well-studied measures and policies to control the sector.
On Friday Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed a bill seeking an outright ban on online gambling in the Philippines, calling it a “silent epidemic” harming Filipinos. Mr Zubiri’s bill is called the “Anti-Online Gambling Act of 2025”, according to local media reports.
The same day, the Philippines’ Department of Finance was said to be mulling a tax for the online gaming sector in the country, as well as the possibility of introducing stricter policies regarding access to digital gambling platforms.
It was subsequently reported that House Bill 1351, a measure also known as the Kontra e-Sugal Act of 2025 – which translates as “Anti e-Gambling Act of 2025” – was filed on Monday by Akbayan Party-list Representatives Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Ismula, according to local media.
It seeks to establish a Special Gambling Harm Reduction Fund, financed by a 10 percent tax on online gambling operators’ gross revenues, to be collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Separately, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has been pushing for a measure – referred to in news reports as “An Act Regulating Gambling in the Philippines” – that would impose stricter regulations on online gambling, including a ban on betting games using e-wallets and the imposition of a minimum cash-in amount of PHP10,000.
In Mr Tengco’s Tuesday interview, the Pagcor chairman noted assent for Mr Gatchalian’s gradualist approach to the online sector.
“He is for stricter regulation. That way, the industry can continue to be regulated, and at the same time, the government also makes money,” said Mr Tengco.
He also mentioned the regulator was to use artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools, such as a “self-exclusion button” and a “monitoring system” to guide gamblers online.
The Pagcor boss mentioned that a 24/7 hotline service would be set up in the next few months, where what the reports termed “online gambling addicts” could seek help.
He added that the country’s Ad Standards Council was looking to study the regulation of online gambling advertisements on social media.
