Francis Escudero, the President of the Philippine Senate, has called for a review of domestic gaming operators known as PIGOs, stating they might be as problematic as the offshore gaming operators that were banned last year.
In a statement, Escudero said: "We need to reconsider this. The adverse effects we want to avoid might very well be present in PIGOs, which would only affect Filipinos, not foreigners."
He compared the Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGO) with the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). Last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned POGO due to allegations of money laundering, human trafficking, prostitution, and fraud.
POGOs targeted online casino customers in other countries, particularly mainland China, whereas PIGOs target players in the Philippines.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Escudero saying, "I know that the gaming companies in the Philippines have made a lot of money. It's a major source of revenue. However, if they can refuse huge revenues from Philippine gaming companies, there's no reason they can't refuse them, especially if it doesn't benefit our compatriots at all."
In the past, Escudero has sought to ban all gambling activities in the Philippines. "Whether it's POGO, PIGO, or casinos—if we truly think they are harmful to our society, we should ban them all."
Regulation Rather Than Elimination
Jeri R Alfonso, a stock analyst at Unicapital Securities, commented on Viber that a total ban on gambling is unlikely. He mentioned that Pagcor is now the third largest source of revenue for the Philippines after the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Customs Bureau, as it provided PHP 45.9 billion (£62.6 million/€75.6 million/$79.6 million) in cash dividends in 2024.
"Shutting down online gambling would be a severe blow to government funds," Alfonso continued. "We believe that a total ban is unlikely."
Juan Paolo E Colet, Managing Director at Bank of China Capital, agreed, saying that the ban "would cost the government billions of pesos in much-needed revenue."
He wrote: "Pagcor already has an appropriate regulatory framework in place to ensure we have a viable gaming industry that meets the huge market demand and makes significant contributions to the government's social programs."
Without legal options, Filipino gamblers might turn to the black market, "which is bad news for everyone," he added. "A better approach is regulation, not elimination."
Last month, Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the Marcos administration to suspend all online gambling due to concerns that POGO operators had already infiltrated the domestic industry.
Two years after launching POGO, Pagcor legalized PIGO in 2018.
