01/09/2026
Pag-agni sa Online Sugal Dapat Bawalan
Sa panahon karon, naa na sa cellphone ang mga commercials nga nag-agni sa viewers nga moapil og sugal. Mura nag 24-oras nga casino ang celphone, so kinahanglan ning sugpo-on.
Ni-file ko og bill sa kongreso aron dili na tugotan nga mga pamilya labi na ang mga kabatan-onan, nga mahimong target sa sugal.
Ang "Online Gambling Advertising Prohibition Act of 2026" nga akong gi-file dili lang para karon, kung dili para pod sa kaugmaon.
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Garcia files bill to ban online gambling ads
"Every smartphone is now a potential 24-hour casino."
Saying that, Cebu 3rd District Representative Karen Hope F. Garcia filed the "Online Gambling Advertising Prohibition Act of 2026" seeking to ban the advertising, promotion, endorsement, and sponsorship of online gambling in the Philippines.
If approved, House Bill 10982 will ban the marketing of online gambling in all forms and channels: TV, radio, print, billboards; social media, websites, and mobile apps; search-engine and targeted ads; influencer, creator, and affiliate marketing; email and SMS; and sponsorships of sports, concerts, and events. It will also ban public-figure endorsements of online gambling brands, plus bonuses, free bets, and referral codes designed to lure players. Cross-promotion is also covered, meaning those that advertise a land-based product sharing a brand with an online platform would be treated as online gambling advertising.
The bill does not touch the legality of licensed gambling. It targets the marketing machinery built to pull people, especially the young and the financially vulnerable, deeper into it.
"Nobody asked for a casino on their phone, open twenty-four hours a day. It got there through an ad on a livestream, a bonus code passed around on social media, a famous influencer telling our youth that the odds are in their favor," Garcia said. "This bill tells the industry it can't chase our children and our vulnerable families into their own homes to sell them on it."
Advertising of non-online activities such as licensed casinos, PCSO lotteries and sweepstakes, horse racing, and licensed cockpit cockfighting remains allowed, but with a mandatory responsible gaming advisory, content standards, and restrictions. News reporting, academic discussion, and government communications will be excluded from the ban.
Garcia cited World Health Organization (WHO) findings linking digital gambling marketing to addiction. In its 2024 fact sheet on gambling, the WHO characterized gambling disorder as a “health-harming addictive behavior” fueled by the industry’s commercialization and digitization. WHO said banning gambling advertising, promotion, and sponsorship is the necessary first step toward reducing harm.
She also pointed out that PAGCOR online gaming hit ₱201.12 billion in 2025, overtaking land-based casinos for the first time with a share of more than half of PAGCOR’s P396.14-billion revenues in 2025.
"Every peso of that growth came from an ad, a sponsorship, or an influencer post that reached someone's son, someone's father, someone's breadwinner," Garcia said.
Operators face fines from ₱500,000 to ₱10,000,000, license suspension or revocation, and up to three years' imprisonment for willful violations. Public figures who endorse online gambling face fines, disgorgement of payments, and 3–5 year bans. Platforms, media, ad-tech firms, and ISPs face ₱50,000 per day of non-compliance and possible license revocation.
The bill also tightens age and identity verification for online gambling accounts, citing the Philippine Constitution which commits the State to promote and protect “the physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being” of the youth, as well as the “protect and promote the right to health of the people.”
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