The Philippines has recently taken a serious step in banning gambling among public officials. On March 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the gaming regulatory body PAGCOR signed a memorandum of understanding, with one core provision: to add all DOJ staff to the casino exclusion list. This marks the first time a government agency in the Philippines has signed such a cooperation agreement with a gaming regulatory department, demonstrating significant commitment. The PASA official website noted that this cooperation is not just about "signing a document," but about pushing the ban on gambling among public officials from paper to implementation.
PAGCOR President and CEO Alejandro Tengco revealed at the signing event some background data: there are about 4.5 million government officials and employees nationwide, but previously only 600,000 were included in the casino exclusion list. He openly stated that this number was "far from sufficient." The inclusion of the DOJ is considered a significant expansion of the exclusion list and sets a good precedent for other government departments to follow.
Many may not be aware, but the Philippines has long had regulations—under Presidential Decree No. 1869, all government officials and employees are prohibited from participating in gambling activities. The reason is simple: public officials hold public authority, and once involved in gambling, corruption and the collapse of trust are inevitable. Tengco also revealed that during the verification of bettors' identities, numerous instances of illegal betting were discovered, with the prizes for those who had their betting rights revoked amounting to 310 million pesos (approximately 39 million RMB). It is unclear if any of these violators were hidden public officials, but the regulatory body clearly does not want to gamble on this "possibility."
Complete coverage of 60,000 DOJ personnel, from the headquarters to all subordinate agencies
The DOJ, now included in the exclusion list, is not small in scale. Together with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Corrections, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Government Legal Counsel Office, the Public Attorney's Office, the Parole and Probation Administration, the Land Registration Authority, and other subordinate agencies, there are about 60,000 employees in total. From now on, these individuals are strictly prohibited from entering any formal gambling venues, including PAGCOR's Casino Filipino.
DOJ Secretary Frederick Vida was very straightforward in his statement: "Public officials violating laws and regulations by entering gambling venues is itself a trampling of the moral standards we swore to uphold." He believes that this information-sharing cooperation has come at the right time—it not only helps PAGCOR control casino access but also strengthens internal discipline within the DOJ. "By establishing a more efficient and precise identity recognition system, we can ensure that policies written on paper are truly implemented."
The database is not a "blacklist," this cooperation makes regulation more comprehensive
PAGCOR has always maintained a National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP), continuously updated. There were rumors that this database had been hacked, and some mistakenly thought it was a "list of gambling addicts." PAGCOR has clarified many times: this database mainly records individuals legally prohibited from entering casinos, most of whom are public officials, completely different from "addicts."
This cooperation with the DOJ essentially involves "adding information and precision" to this database. The more complete the public officials' information, the more accurate the on-site verification, and the smaller the space for unauthorized entry. As Tengco puts it, this is about "plugging leaks from the source." PASA's official website noted that this kind of inter-departmental data sharing is not common in Southeast Asian gaming regulation, but it indeed targets the "vital point"—controlling public officials equates to controlling a high-risk group for corruption.
Ultimately, this move by the Philippines is not just about "banning gambling," but also about drawing a red line for the public service system. With 60,000 people blocked from entering casinos, this number itself sends a signal: there must be a wall between public power and the gambling table.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
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PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
