Alejandro Tengco, Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), recently disclosed that in 2024, PAGCOR collected up to 50 billion pesos in licensing fees from 70 legal online gambling platforms, half of which was directly remitted to the national treasury, and the other half was used to fund various government agencies including the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, the Sports Commission, and the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Tengco pointed out that the Health Insurance Corporation alone received nearly 6.5 billion pesos from legal gambling platforms, benefiting about 30,000 beneficiaries and significantly alleviating financial pressures on healthcare. However, he also warned that there are hundreds of illegal platforms operating offshore, specifically targeting Filipino users, severely disrupting the order of the regular market and hindering regulatory enforcement.
According to current regulations, legal platforms must pass strict tests to ensure game fairness, transparency in prize payments, and deposit refund processes, protecting player rights. Tengco called on the government to intensify efforts to crack down on illegal platforms to prevent them from eroding the foundation of the legal industry.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Congress is pushing for stricter online gambling regulatory bills, proposing legislation on age verification, advertising restrictions, and user protection. Some lawmakers pointed out that online gambling, due to its anonymity and high addiction risk, is posing an increasingly severe social threat to minors and vulnerable groups, urgently requiring policy intervention to curb its negative impacts.
