Bill prohibiting online gambling filed in Senate

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has filed a bill seeking to prohibit and penalize online gambling such as e-sabong and offshore gaming.

In filing Senate Bill 1281 or the proposed Anti-Online Gambling Act, Villanueva said the consequences of gambling and online gambling are "too severe to be ignored" as its cost is no longer limited to the loss of money but also of values and lives.

He cited several examples of gambling's cost, including the case of a 19-year-old student in Davao de Oro who was arrested in October 2021 after he was unable to pay more than P500,000 in bet money for online cockfighting or e-sabong.

"These circumstances also show that the social cost of gambling is too high — bankruptcy, broken families and criminal activities, among others," he said.

The majority leader also mentioned in his explanatory note the highlights of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development in the 18th Congress where they discovered that the growth of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country "has resulted in rising criminality, including prostitution, and increased threat of money laundering, among others."

"The bill seeks to prohibit online gambling and the placing of wagers or bets through the internet or any form of online gambling activities to prevent further deterioration of morals and values, encourage people to work instead of relying on a game of chance, stop addiction and save lives," Villanueva said.

Under SB 1281, any person who shall place, receive, or otherwise knowingly transmit a bet or wager by any means which involves the use, in whole or in part, of the internet, shall be punished by an imprisonment ranging from one to six months or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 depending on the discretion of the court.

If the offender is a corporation, partnership or association, the president, directors, managers or managing partners, or responsible officers may face a maximum penalty of five years and a fine of P500,000.

If the violator is a public officer or an employee or if such public officer or employee promotes, encourages, aids or abets the promotion of online gambling, he or she will face he maximum penalty prescribed for the offense and he or she will be dismissed from public service and will be disqualified from holding any public office perpetually.

Section 5 of the proposed law also repeals the authority to regulate online gambling.

Several lawmakers are calling on the Marcos administration to totally ban POGO, a form of online gambling, in the country amid the recent reports on kidnappings and abductions in the country. —KBK, GMA News