The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), the country’s gaming regulator, has ordered the removal of all billboards and other out-of-home (OOH) advertisements related to gambling activities. That is according to a memorandum dated July 7, according to a press release.
The memorandum was directed at Pagcor’s licensees, suppliers, gaming venue operators, and system administrators, and is said to cover both static and digital advertisement materials.
It was signed by Vina Claudette Oca, assistant vice president for gaming licensing and development at Pagcor; and Jeremy Luglug, assistant vice president of the electronic gaming licensing department at the agency.
“All advertisements must have been taken down by August 15, 2025,” Pagcor said in the memo.
The regulator is also said to be preparing a set of guidelines for gaming-related advertisements.
According to the memo, no replacement advertisements may be installed in the vacated spaces unless they are for institutional or responsible gaming purposes, and only with prior approval from Pagcor.
“Additional details and instructions regarding this will be provided in a separate notice,” Pagcor stated.
The regulator is also set to sign on July 16 a memorandum of agreement with the Ads Standards Council, aiming to regulate advertisements for online gambling platforms.
Pagcor’s latest directive comes amid a growing chorus of voices in the Philippines calling for changes to the online gaming sector there, 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. There have even been calls for a complete ban.
Earlier this week, the head of Pagcor, Alejandro Tengco, suggested that the answer to concerns about online gambling within the country was tighter control, not a total ban.
In Friday’s release, the Pagcor chief was cited as saying that the advertisement directive was part of the agency’s commitment to promote a safer and more responsible gaming environment in the country.
“While Pagcor is mandated to regulate the gaming industry and generate revenues for nation-building, we do not want to encourage a culture of gambling addiction,” he said.
“Regulating excessive and pervasive gambling advertisements is a critical step in protecting vulnerable sectors of society, especially the youth,” Mr Tengco added.
On Wednesday, the Secretary of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, Arsenio Balisacan, proposed exploring digital transactions in online gambling as a possible new revenue source for the government.
“We discussed that with the economic managers. I think at the very least, you can tax [the online gaming industry],” Mr Balisacan was cited as saying by local media outlets.
The FinTech Alliance Philippines, described as the country’s largest organisation representing financial technology (fintech) companies, said it supported calls for a strengthened regulatory framework on the use of digital financial services to access licensed online gaming platforms.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto last week said the government was mulling an online gaming tax, alongside policy options to limit access to digital gambling platforms.
