Duterte wants online gambling stopped

President Rodrigo Duterte, who took his oath of office as the 16th President of the Philippines on Thursday, vowed to stop the proliferation of online gambling.

"'Yung online gambling must stop," Duterte told his appointed officials during his administration's first Cabinet meeting.

He would suggest that the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to cancel the licenses of online gambling operators.

"Kung saan-saan na lang nag-sprout... mahirap na puro sugal na lang ang nalalaman nitong mga ito," Duterte said.

Sought for comment, PAGCOR declined to comment for the mean time.

"We just learned about it now. PAGCOR can't give any comment yet," Maricar Bautista, PAGCOR Assistant Vice President for Corporate Communications, said in a text message to GMA News Online.

PhilWeb Casino Corp. President Dennis Valdes told GMA News Online he may be able to give his comment on Friday, July 1. PhilWeb is an online gaming operator listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

IP-E Game Ventures Inc., an online gaming firm also listed on the exchange, IP-E Games issued a statement on Friday.

“IP E-Games is not involved in PAGCOR-related online gambling and thus do not foresee our video gaming business being affected by policy statements regarding online gaming (gambling),"  Jaime Enrique Y. Gonzalez, founder and CEO of IP E-Games, said.

Gonzalez noted that IP E-Games is bullish on the prospects of the Philippines as a business process outsourcing hub for foreign gaming companies that are off-shoring game development and customer service and back-office functions in the country, "
which have tremendous job creation and economic stimuli into the local economy."

Duterte said there is no way the government could collect taxes online, but clarified that is not his main reason.

"Well not exactly taxes... I really do not want the proliferation of gambling all over the country," Duterte emphasized.

Online gambling consists of Internet casinos, lottery, and bingo. – Ted Cordero/Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News