PlaySafe Alliance Highlights Risks from Unlicensed Online Gambling Operators
PlaySafe Alliance Supports Senate in Addressing Online Gambling Risks
The newly established PlaySafe Alliance of the Philippines, consisting of 18 operators licensed by PAGCOR along with a legal advisory firm, recently expressed their support for a Senate hearing on various legislative proposals aimed at restricting or banning certain forms of online gambling.
Regulated Platforms Provide Safer Gambling Environment
The Alliance praised the Senate for emphasizing a key truth during their discussions: the most significant issues such as underage gambling, unchecked betting activities, and financial difficulties stem from unlicensed operators, rather than those licensed and regulated by PAGCOR.
Licensed operators are subject to rigorous state oversight, including regular audits and penalties for misconduct. They must also implement procedures like Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and enforce responsible gaming protocols to protect players.
The Alliance reaffirmed the Senate’s perspective that “where regulation prevails, protection is guaranteed; where illegality exists, protection disappears.”
Senate Actions and Financial Sector Responses
In recent developments, senators have proposed several legislative measures, including three bills advocating for a complete ban on online gambling and two others advocating for stricter controls. Concurrently, the country’s central bank has directed electronic wallet providers to remove direct links to domestic online gambling platforms.
Although the PlaySafe Alliance agrees with the central bank’s goals of consumer safeguarding and financial transparency, they argue that retaining legal gambling within a regulated environment reinforced by traceable and supervised payment channels is a more effective strategy.
The Alliance warns that eliminating access to licensed gambling sites on payment applications could drive players to unregulated, clandestine websites where activities are unmonitored and tax contributions are lost.
Popular money transfer services in the Philippines, such as GCash and Maya—recognized as the country’s leading digital bank—have announced compliance with the central bank’s directive by removing in-app gambling links.
Calls for Enforceable Regulations
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, Erwin Tulfo, remarked that combating online gambling is increasingly challenging due to operators moving their services to mobile applications.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who introduced one of the proposed bills, stressed the importance of tougher laws to eliminate underground gambling operations and protect Filipino citizens from online gambling harms.
He emphasized the necessity for more stringent rules that are effectively enforceable, stating that mere bans are insufficient to address the issue.
