Stop gambling with Filipino lives

Gambling is a persistent problem in our country. Accepted as a cultural pastime, sabong has been our grandfathers’ vice of choice. Jueteng and other number games continue to permeate local neighborhoods. Unfortunately, we cannot simply look at this as a hobby or recreational activity. Wherever there is gambling, there is crime. The case of the missing sabungeros is coming to a gruesome chapter with a confession that their bodies were dumped in Taal Lake. Jueteng brought corruption all the way up to the top during the Estrada administration. Philippine offshore gaming operators have used us as a breeding ground for their scams and human trafficking. Even after their deportation, there are news reports of these scams continuing to operate, with their criminal knowledge passed down to their local counterparts.

Gambling is a social ill. It is deplorable that instead of learning our lesson, we have kept our doors wide open. We get bombarded with gambling advertisements wherever we go. There are numerous billboards with top celebrity endorsers scattered along highways. Intrusive ads attack our social media pages and streaming videos. One can even play Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.-authorized games straight from your GCash app, disguised simply as “games.” It has never been easier to gamble. Family members can be gambling away their life savings behind their bedroom door and we’d be none the wiser.

Gambling is considered an addiction when a person is unable to stop despite experiencing negative consequences. The experience of winning activates dopamine release, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel pleasure and excitement. Any activity that releases dopamine is potentially addicting. Who wouldn’t want to feel pleasure all the time? The danger in gambling, ironically, is that it does not reward you every time you play. Instead, it gives rewards randomly. With such intermittent reinforcement, the gambling behavior becomes more sticky as you need to keep playing for a chance to win. The randomness of the payout adds to the addictiveness of gambling because you never know if the next bet is the winner. The consequence of gambling is devastating not only to the gamblers but also to their families. The financial losses—leading to mounting debts and crimes that would fund their addiction—break up families who lose their homes and savings. It isolates the person from their relationships, who then is left with only gambling for comfort.

As a response, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed a bill that seeks to impose stricter regulations against online gambling. “Due to its accessibility, online gambling activities have magnified the dangers of gambling and have been linked to the erosion of our moral fibers, as it has caused an increase in mental health problems, financial problems, addictive behavior, vices and crime rates,” he said. His proposal includes banning gambling sponsorships of public events and campaign donations. It also requires part of the regulatory fees to put up gambling addiction rehabilitation centers. He proposed prohibiting the use of GCash when it comes to gambling platforms.

While this is a good step, there is much more we can do to stem the negative effects of gambling on the local population. Just as we have done for cigarettes, we should ban advertising of casinos and online gambling altogether. The use of celebrity endorsers should likewise be prohibited as we know that such tactics are very effective persuaders for the Filipino market.

We should also be more vigilant about the proliferation of casinos in the metropolis. I was dismayed to hear that Solaire opened a casino in Quezon City, just a 15-minute walk from my old high school. Casinos shouldn’t be where kids and government offices are. It shouldn’t be in the center of the city, but in designated zones far away from people with no original intent to gamble.

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Gambling remains very tempting for Filipinos because there’s not much else to do, either for recreation or supplementing their income. For the former, we should encourage entertainment and leisure zones that are not tied to casinos. Let’s cultivate our sports industry so that families have somewhere to go and root for their favorite team on weekends. Better yet, strengthen community sports—have people form amateur leagues so they can play themselves.

To replace the temptation of earning instant money, it goes back to addressing poverty. Set a livable wage. Improve public services in health and education so that there are fewer costs of living. Improve public transport so that both our time and money are not wasted on the road.

Filipinos become more vulnerable to gambling when they think it is the only way to get themselves out of poverty. Gambling operators exploit this vulnerability and offer impossible dreams to enrich themselves while leaving their customers even more destitute. Let’s break this cycle and stop gambling with Filipino lives.