Senator Zubiri files bill for total ban on online gambling

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed a bill on July 4 that seeks a total ban on all online gambling in the country¹. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed a separate measure banning the use of e-wallets in online gambling¹. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) opposed an outright ban, with chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco saying stricter regulation should be implemented instead¹.

Tengco said the government earns more than P100 billion from online gambling, with license fees from online gambling at approximately P50 billion in 2024 alone, plus what operators pay to the Bureau of Internal Revenue¹. He said one of the largest Pagcor-licensed online gaming companies paid over P30 billion or P40 billion in taxes, and that approximately 32,000 people are directly employed by the industry¹. He said Pagcor can capture only about 45 to 50 percent of the entire online gaming sphere because many illegal operators remain active, and that these operators come from other countries targeting Filipino customers¹.

Gatchalian is pushing for tighter regulation and told The Straits Times that a ban would only drive players to underground sites that are harder to monitor². His bill seeks to raise the minimum playing age from 18 to 21 and require know-your-customer checks, such as identity submission before users can play². It also proposes a P10,000 minimum bet, a P5,000 top-up limit and a ban on celebrity endorsements². A bet can start from as low as P20².

More than 80 gaming platforms are legally registered with the government and run by local operators². From January to May 2025, gross gaming revenues from e-games by Pagcor hit P51.39 billion². In 2024, the same platforms generated P154.51 billion worth of government revenue, higher than the P58.16 billion in 2023². President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in 2024 banned offshore online casinos, called Pogos, that were linked to Chinese crime syndicates operating in the Philippines².

What it means for players

Online gambling through locally registered platforms remains legal and regulated by Pagcor while the bills are pending. Under Pagcor-registered companies, only people aged 21 and above are permitted to play, and minors are prohibited¹. Pagcor has ordered the removal of e-gambling billboard ads and pledged to limit television promotions, giving licensees, suppliers and gaming venue operators until Aug 15 to remove ad materials². Tengco said Pagcor recommended to the Ad Standards Council that online gaming ads be stopped during primetime, a window he described as around 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.¹. He said he is considering raising the minimum deposit so that minors can no longer afford to gamble, and that the exact amount will be studied¹. Local fintech players GCash and Maya have agreed to strengthen age verification and monitoring systems, though critics argue the safeguards remain too easy to circumvent². President Marcos has yet to take a clear stance; his spokesman said he is open to taxing online gambling "if well studied" but offered no definitive position on whether the industry should be regulated or banned outright².

What happens next

Pagcor and the Ad Standards Council will sign a Memorandum of Agreement in a week to regulate all outdoor billboards in the country¹. Pagcor is partnering with a rehabilitation center and plans a 24/7 hotline in the next few months where those addicted to gambling can call for advice¹. It is studying AI-powered tools including a self-exclusion button and a monitoring system that would impose a cooling-off period when the system sees gamblers losing huge amounts of money¹. The bills filed by Zubiri and Gatchalian have not been enacted; no date has been reported for their passage or rejection.