The Philippines is in the midst of a fierce debate – should online gambling stay or go? President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has shown himself less inclined to ban the activity outright, presenting a sensible argument – that banning gambling would not limit potential gambling-related harm.
New trade group to champion responsible play and a regulated online gambling market
As debates and opposite opinions swirl around, 19 licensed online gambling operators in the Philippines have come together and formed a trade group dedicated to responsible play, regulatory compliance, consumer protection, and, importantly, limiting the reach of the illegal gambling market.
The so-called PlaySafe Alliance of the Philippines brings together a number of prominent companies from the sector, among which are Trojans Well Entertainment Corp, Gavin Ventures Inc, Playmate Leisure Solutions Corp, Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies Inc, and many others.
The formation of this new trade group comes at an auspicious moment, as debate is raging on whether gambling should be banned online – a move backed by some lawmakers and the Catholic Church of the Philippines.
Yet, banning the activity is bound to cause more harm than good, as argued by pragmatic lawmakers and President Marcos Jr himself, with the key objection being that once consumers have no domestic options, they will flock to the offshore market.
In the meantime, there have been various proposals – from banning GCash and Maya as the means to fund accounts to a threshold of around PHP10,000 when adding funds to a gambling account.
Calls for a more pragmatic approach to regulating gambling are heard
While these measures are still being debated, the central bank of the country has similarly called for stricter oversight of transactions that flow to and from gambling platforms.
Essentially, the country is calling for tighter oversight of the industry, with financial institutions and operators looking to act preemptively and raise standards of consumer protection. PlaySafe Alliance is a meaningful initiative that wants to set out rules and suggest what the next steps in helping protect consumers could be.
