Erwin Tulfo wants cooperation of online platforms vs. e-gambling

Aside from e-wallets, Senator Erwin Tulfo on Sunday said other online platforms should also cooperate with government initiatives to curb online gambling which has been flagged by the Department of Health (DOH) as a public health concern.

According to Tulfo, several firms behind online gambling are now doubling efforts to shift to other mobile applications such as Viber, Telegram, Lazada, and other applications, and that gaming vouchers can still be bought through online shopping platforms.

“The fight against the accessibility of gambling to the public is far from over and we will do our best to work with the private sector and other stakeholders to come up with a holistic approach in addressing this problem,” he said in a statement.

“We are not enemies here. We are allies that should work hand in hand to ensure that the next generation of Filipinos are not gambling addicts,” he added.

E-wallets Maya and GCash over the weekend unlinked from online gambling platforms, complying with the 48-hour timeline given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as the country seeks to curb operations of the industry.

“We laud the move of the e-wallet firms to delink these online gambling sites from their platforms. This is a sign that the business sector is willing to work with the government in addressing the problem of online gambling addiction in our country,” Tulfo said.

For its part, the PlaySafe Alliance of the Philippines, a group of online gambling operators, maintained that the harms that have been highlighted stem from illegal and unlicensed platforms — underage access, uncontrolled betting, and financial distress.

“Licensed operators are subject to oversight, audits, and sanctions. They run KYC (know-your-customer), age verification, and responsible gaming mechanisms,” PlaySafe said in a separate statement released Sunday.

“The Senate’s work draws a clean line: where regulation exists, protection exists; where illegality thrives, protection vanishes,” it added. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News