Senators Advocate for Online Gambling Ban
MANILA, Philippines — Senators Loren Legarda and Raffy Tulfo have introduced bills aiming to ban online gambling across the country, highlighting its harmful effects, especially on minors. The proposed legislation seeks to address the growing social problems linked to online betting.
Legarda’s bill calls for a comprehensive ban on all online gambling forms. This includes online casinos, e-sabong, digital lotteries, virtual slot machines, and sports betting platforms. She emphasized that the online gambling ban is crucial as easy internet access has made gambling platforms dangerously accessible to vulnerable groups.
“Anybody with access to the internet could easily log on to online betting platforms, and has blurred the lines between regulation and unregulated gaming,” Legarda remarked. She pointed out that minors, students, and low-income individuals are particularly at risk, often falling into addictive and financially damaging behaviors that affect entire families.
Scope of the Online Gambling Ban
Beyond prohibiting participation, Legarda’s proposal also targets the promotion of gambling content online. It seeks to outlaw the publishing, advertising, and endorsement of any gambling-related material on digital platforms.
The bill tasks the Department of Justice, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the National Telecommunications Commission with coordinating efforts to block and remove gambling websites and related content. Internet service providers would be required to comply within 48 hours, or face penalties including fines and possible license revocation.
Violators could face imprisonment from six months to one year or fines ranging from P300,000 to P500,000. Companies involved may be fined P500,000 to P1,000,000, and responsible officers could face up to three years in prison.
Addressing Social Impact
Legarda warned that the lack of effective checks has allowed minors and other vulnerable individuals to bypass age restrictions. This exposes them not only to financial harm but also psychological and social risks.
“Uncontrolled gambling by many has caused irreparable damage to their families, leading to domestic violence, gambling-linked crimes, and perhaps even murder and suicide,” she added. Legarda called for an end to the “glorification of online gambling,” urging society to support those struggling with addiction, particularly young people.
Parallel Measures by Senator Tulfo
Meanwhile, Senator Raffy Tulfo has also filed his own version of an anti-online gambling bill. Like Legarda’s, it seeks to ban all forms of online betting. This proposal is part of Tulfo’s third batch of priority bills for the 20th Congress, alongside measures on free health aids for seniors, anti-aid abuse, barangay CCTV surveillance, and stricter birth certification guidelines.
Both senators underscore the urgent need for an online gambling ban to protect Filipino families from the growing risks associated with digital betting platforms.
For more news and updates on online gambling ban, visit Filipinokami.com.
