MANILA, Philippines – Bumaba ng hanggang 50% ang mga transaksyon sa online gaming kasunod ng direktiba ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sa mga e-wallet na alisin ang link patungo sa gambling sites mula sa kanilang mga platform, ayon sa Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Sa kabilang banda, sinabi ni Pagcor chair Alejandro Tengco, na nakapagtala ang ahensya ng pagtaas sa mga gumagamit ng illegal gaming platforms kasunod ng direktiba ng BSP noong nakaraang linggo.
Partikular na inatasan sa BSP Memorandum No. 2025-29, na inisyu noong Agosto 14 ni BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, ang e-wallet platforms na alisin ang kanilang in-app features na nagpopromote sa mga user na gumamit ng e-gambling sites.
Sakop ng memo ang mga e-wallet, banko at iba pang supervised entities.
“It’s really hard to go after them (illegal sites),” tugon ni Tengco kay Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno sa pagdinig ng House committee on appropriations para sa 2026 budget nitong Miyerkules, Agosto 20.
“But I can assure that the licensed ones under our jurisdiction followed the BSP directive.”
“Currently, 60 percent of what we see in the (online gaming industry) are illegal operators, meaning, those who operate outside the Philippines,” dagdag pa.
“They operate in countries like Russia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Cambodia…it’s really hard to go after them.”
Dagdag pa ni Tengco, ang mga illegal at foreign operators na ito “give so much room to consumers so that they would get more addicted…for example, if you deposit P100,000 on their platform, they give four times, five times bonuses.”
Batay sa listahan na kinokolekta nila araw-araw, sinabi ni Tengco na mayroong 12,000 illegal online gaming sites, malayo mula sa 77 na mga lisensyado na nasasakupan nila.
Kabilang naman sa mga tinukoy ni FPJ Panday Bayanihan Rep. Brian Poe sa mga site na ito ay ang Poppo Live, Awaas, Gemgala, at Hichat, na nagpapakilala bilang game at social applications.
Aminado si Tengco na ang mga app na ito “still operate in the Philippines, and these are part of the 12,000 sites we have reported…to the credit of the DICT, CICC, National Bureau of Investigation, they have put down 8,000 of the almost 12,000 illegal sites we have reported to them.”
“I can assure you—there are far more illegal sites than legal sites,” sinabi ng opisyal kay Poe.
“Everything we hear about, kids who are addicted, I can assure you that (these illegal sites that are unregulated) are the cause of this problem now.”
Tengco emphasized—as he had during the debates about Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) last year—that Pagcor has no power to shut down illegal operators.
“Our role is simply to identify and hopefully the law enforcement agencies can move to shut them down,” dagdag pa. RNT/JGC
