Philippines to ban online gambling

The Philippines' gaming regulator on Tuesday said it will cancel the licenses of offshore gambling firms and work with law enforcement agencies to implement President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's order of a total ban on the industry.

In his State of the Nation address on July 22, Marcos said he was banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), an industry dominated by Chinese firms, and ordered the regulator to wind down the sector by the end of the year.

Chairman of state gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) Alejandro Tengco stressed that the challenge for law enforcers was to prevent these firms from going underground, adding the government stood to lose around PHP23 billion ($400 million) of licence fees and taxes annually from the licensed POGOs.

According to PAGCOR, there are 42 licenced POGOs in the country, directly and indirectly employing around 40,000 Filipinos, while nearly 23,000 foreigners worked in the industry as of the end of last year.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto revealed that the finance and labour ministries will assist displaced Filipino workers through safety nets and training programmes.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said a separate crackdown on hundreds of illegal POGOs, home to scam farms and other crimes such as human trafficking and torture, will continue.

The online gaming industry emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially as operators capitalised on the country's liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.

The POGO industry, which at its peak prior to the pandemic involved 300 firms, boosted demand for apartments, offices, and transportation services.