VP Sara not in favor of online gambling

Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday expressed her opposition to online gambling amid proposals in Congress for a total ban.

“I am against online gambling. Hindi ako sang-ayon sa lahat ng klase ng pagsusugal online dahil hindi nakokontrol ng mga magulang ang access ng kanilang mga anak diyaan sa internet,” Duterte said during an interview at the Free Duterte Now rally in The Hague, Netherlands.

(I am against online gambling. I am not in favor of any type of online gambling because parents could not control the access of their children on the internet.)

According to the vice president, online gambling makes it easy for Filipinos to lose money and often puts families in debt.

“Okay ako sa regulated gambling kung saan di lahat nakakasugal, pero kapag nilagay mo siya online kung na hindi na natin macocontrol kung sino makakapagbukas ng account para magsugal, di ako sang-ayon doon dahil nakakasira ng pamilya yun at nakakasira ng kinabukasan ng kabataan,” she added.

(I am okay with regulated gambling where not anyone can gamble, but if you place it online where we can no longer control who can open an account to gamble, I am not in favor of that, as it destroys families and it destroys the futures of the youth.)

Several lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives have backed proposals seeking an outright ban on online gambling as they believed regulation would not be enough.

The Department of Health also said that online gambling is a health issue that can affect a person’s capacity to perform his or her job or can even cause harm. —VBL, GMA Integrated News