Senate panel sets online gambling probe as Palace readies ‘conclave’
The Senate committee on games and amusement will lead an inquiry into the bills seeking to address the ill effects of online gambling in the country this week.
“On Thursday, we will start discussing the bills on online gambling. I made a commitment to prioritize these measures because our problem concerning online gambling is getting worse. This is already a crisis,” said Sen. Erwin Tulfo, committee chair.
“We need to act on this, to solve this problem,” the senator said a day after President Marcos said he would convene a multisectoral consultation he described as a “conclave,” including leaders of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Even before the Marcos administration, the CBCP has consistently spoken against gambling across the country, particularly cockfighting (“sabong” in Filipino), which has adapted itself to evolving technologies via online sabong.
Like the President, Tulfo said he wants a total ban on online gambling, but the senator vowed to hear the positions of agencies such as the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation and the Department of Finance to weigh the pros and cons if the industry will be outright declared illegal.
“Our problem was: we were not ready,” Tulfo said. “There was no regulation so people were gambling non-stop. There was no control how much bets will be placed. Even kids were gambling.”
“You have to weigh: you have your earnings, but you also have a lot of social ills. People are getting addicted to gambling. What’s more important, money or the future of the youth?” he added.
A speech, seven measures
The Senate committee will tackle four bills and three resolutions, and a privilege speech on the ill effects of the online gambling industry.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier called on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to disallow e-wallets from directly linking their digital platforms to online gambling sites.
“The BSP should prohibit e-wallets from providing direct links to online gambling platforms. By severing this direct connection, the BSP can protect countless Filipinos from the destructive cycle of gambling addiction,” Gatchalian said.
He noted that direct access to online gambling platforms has allowed many Filipinos, including young people, to engage in online gambling, which often leads to financial ruin.
Gatchalian had earlier filed a bill seeking stricter regulation of online gambling in the country.
One of the provisions of the proposed measure includes a prohibition on nonbank electronic money issuers, such as e-wallets, from directly linking their electronic instruments to online gambling platforms through URLs, including app links, hyperlinks and other similar methods.
