Philippine President Marcos has officially signed the "2025 Anti-Offshore Gambling Act" (Republic Act 12312), which completely bans offshore gambling (POGO) and internet gambling (IGL) operations. The new law stipulates that violators face up to 12 years in prison and a fine of 50 million pesos (approximately 6.1 million RMB), making it the strictest gambling ban in Philippine history. The bill was signed on October 23 and officially announced on the 29th, repealing the old law that allowed POGO to operate legally during the previous President Duterte's term, marking the end of the nearly decade-long era of offshore gambling in the Philippines. The presidential statement pointed out that the POGO industry has become a hotbed of crime, involving fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking among other illegal activities.
Bill Content and Punishment Measures
The "Anti-POGO Law" completely prohibits the operation of offshore and internet gambling, with violators facing severe criminal penalties, including up to 12 years in prison and a fine of 50 million pesos. The bill was signed by the president on October 23 and took effect on October 29 when it was published in the government gazette, officially replacing the "Republic Act No. 11590" enacted in 2021. The new law aims to completely eradicate the POGO industry, ending its nearly ten-year operation history in the Philippines.
Legislative Background and Presidential Stance
President Marcos first announced a complete ban on offshore gambling in his July 2024 State of the Nation Address and subsequently halted all national POGO and online gambling activities through Executive Order No. 74 in November of the same year. The president emphasized that although POGO was nominally legal gambling, it had actually become a breeding ground for crimes such as telecommunications fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, kidnapping, and murder, and that abolishing the industry was necessary to maintain national security and social order.
Industry Impact and Future Outlook
Before the pandemic, the Philippine POGO industry was once thriving, with 60 licensed operators and over 200 service providers, mainly concentrated in the Greater Manila area and largely operated by Chinese capital employing a large number of local and foreign workers, many of whom were involved in human trafficking. The enactment of the new law means a complete shift in the Philippine gambling industry, with the government accelerating the cleanup of the gray industry chain, and the survival space for cross-border gambling and fraud groups is expected to be further squeezed.
