Senator says predatory practice of digital gaming firms should stop
SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday called for the delinking of online gambling sites from all messaging and e-commerce platforms operating in the country amid reports that e-gaming firms have shifted their marketing strategy to other digital channels.
Gatchalian made the appeal to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) after Sen. Erwin Tulfo disclosed during the weekend that communication apps such as Viber and Telegram are now being used to promote online gambling.
Tulfo also said that credit vouchers to play e-games are being sold on the online selling platform Lazada.
“I call on Pagcor, DTI, and the DICT to immediately order the delinking of online gambling sites from messaging and e-commerce platforms operating in the country,” Gatchalian said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last week ordered e-wallets to remove online gaming links in its applications, which prompted the migration of online gambling sites to other mobile applications.
Gatchalian said Tulfo’s disclosure on the use of messaging and e-commerce platforms as new marketing channels of e-gaming companies is alarming.
“I am deeply concerned by reports that online gambling has infiltrated some of the most widely used digital platforms, including messaging and e-commerce sites such as Viber, Telegram, and Lazada. This is a malicious and predatory practice that we should not tolerate,” he said in a statement.
He said the government must act swiftly against this new kind of strategy employed by online gambling apps, stressing that they will do anything to continue offering their services to their patrons.
“Dapat mas mabilis ang aksiyon ng gobyerno. Hindi puwedeng basta na lang gawing sugalan ang ating mga cellphone at online apps (The government should act faster. We cannot allow our cellphones to continue to be used as gambling venues),” he said.
Gatchalian has been pushing for the implementation of stricter regulation rules on online gambling operations, saying that a total ban would only result to e-gaming firms going underground, like in the case of e-sabong (online cockfighting) and offshore gaming activities.
The government has banned e-sabong and shutdown the offshore gaming industry, but underground operations of the two continue to thrive.
“Its time to have stricter regulations that have real teeth. A ban alone may not be enough. Online gambling operators would likely move underground, making it even harder for authorities to regulate operations and putting vulnerable Filipinos, especially the youth, at greater risk,” Gatchalian said.
