PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will tackle the controversial issue of online gaming in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28. There was no immediate word if the President would call either for a total ban of online gaming here, or ask for the enactment of a legislation that would institute reforms on the local online gaming business.
This is a decision, which the President has to make in the next two weeks as he prepares for his message to the nation. So far, opinions have been sharply divided between the imposition of a total ban on online gaming or the institution of reforms through the enactment of a law by Congress.
Certain lawmakers, heads of civil society organizations, religious leaders, and advocates have openly called for an outright ban of online gaming, saying their operations are virtual gambling that lead to social unrest and dissipation of local resources. They urged BBM to take a single move against online gaming, reminding him that he did the same thing in 2024 when he called for an end of the operations of POGOs, which catered to foreign market.
It is about time that BBM addresses the local market, when online firms suck in local resources without the benefit of effective government regulation and control, they have argued. If BBM has done it on POGOs, he can do the same to Philippine Inland Gaming Operations (PIGOs), they argued. BBM indicated he would impose the same ban on PIGOs.
Moreover, BBM’s initiative to ban e–sabong has been holding, clearing the country of gambling using online systems and facilities. The ban on online gaming would stop the weakening of the nation’s social fabric since gambling is a major cause of family issues. There is a thin line that divides gaming and gambling.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has taken the stand to continue the operations of online gaming firms since they contribute at least P50 billion in annual revenues for the government. After the Bureau of Internal Revenues (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC), Pagcor is considered the third largest revenue maker for the government.
Pagcor is now engaged in a media offensive to drumbeat public support for the continuation of online gaming. Its battle cry of “responsible gaming” has generated public attention but not necessary support because the phrase could be regarded as an oxymoron. There is no such thing as responsible gaming in an activity that has become virtual gambling.
Besides public criticisms of Pagcor’s inability to regulate a multibillion peso online gaming sector have been mounting, triggering perceptions it would be best for BBM to simply issue a total ban on online gaming. Lately, Pagcor was being criticized for its failure to enforce its own regulatory powers on online firms that refuse to pay the prizes of winners in online games.
The case of DigiPlus Interactive is a case in point. DigiPlus is the online gaming firm, the majority of its equity is owned by businessman Eusebio “Yosi” Tanco. It has refused to pay at least 16 winners in its multimillion pesos online gaming platforms, including the winner of P493 million in prize in its ArenaPlus platform.
Pagcor has not acted on the complaint of P493-M prize non-payment despite representation of lawyer Raenan Malig, who wrote at least two letters to Pagcor. There have been perceptions that Pagcor is a victim of what could be described as “regulatory capture.” In brief, Pagcor is believed to have been coopted by DigiPlus not to act on the complaints against non-payment of prizes by these online firms. There is no integrity in online gaming, so it goes.
