The Presidential Palace has insisted that President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr will not act in haste in assessing whether or not ban the Philippines’ online gaming – also known as remote gaming or eGames – industry.
The comments from Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, reported by Philippine News Agency, come amid plans for the senate to hold public hearings to assess the extent of online gaming causing harm to Filipinos. Such hearings – which could begin as early as this week – are seen as a response to President Marcos failing to address online gaming during his State of the Nation Address last Monday.
However, Castro said the government would not be rushed into a decision.
“We must first know where the problem lies. Is it in the license, online gambling app or in the unlicensed sites,” she said. “So, we must know where our countrymen are getting addicted to gambling, if it is because of the illegal gambling apps.
“This should be studied carefully, what should be done, because if we immediately remove online gambling and other licensees are affected, it will affect the assistance to the country, students and Filipinos.
“The President cannot act in haste here. It should be studied because in reality, the revenues provided by the licensees of online gambling provide assistance to the citizens.”
Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR has already taken action to tighten some restrictions governing the remote gaming industry, ordering operators to remove all out-of-home gambling advertisements such as billboards and inking a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ads Standards Council (ASC) under which gambling ads across all platforms will require approval before being aired.
PAGCOR last week revealed that industry GGR from eGames had surpassed US$2 billion for the first time in the first six months of 2025.
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