PAGCOR: ‘Hacked’ restricted persons in casinos database not a list of gambling addicts

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) on Tuesday clarified that the reported hacked National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP) is not a list of gambling addicts.

In a statement, PAGCOR said the NDRP is a compilation of names of people “who are not allowed to gamble such as government officials.”

The gaming industry regulator added that the “hacked” list did not come from the PAGCOR website “but was likely obtained from one of its gaming licensees who have access to the NDRP so that they can screen and prevent restricted persons from gambling.”

PAGCOR, citing its Gaming Licensing and Development Department (GLDD), also said the database is still being updated and needs more inputs from other government agencies.

The regulator said the NDRP contains over 560,000 names that are mainly elected officials sourced from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) website.

“The names on the list are not necessarily addicted gamblers; most are government officials who, by law, are not allowed to enter gambling establishments, thus their inclusion in the NDRP,” said Ma. Vina Claudette Oca, PAGCOR assistant vice president for GLDD.

“There are also 1,711 banned persons in the NDRP. These are individuals who have been subject to requests for self-exclusion, family exclusion or exclusions initiated by our licensees, but they are not necessarily addicts or government officials,” she added.

She explained that the NDRP is far from complete since there are millions of government workers nationwide.

PAGCOR said it issued the clarification after social media posts said that hackers were able to access the NDRP, and “erroneously claimed that the database is a list of gambling addicts.” — BAP, GMA Integrated News