Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said that while he still supports a total ban on online gambling, the government should in the meantime focus on “regulations that work” to address its growing reach and social costs.
“I’m still for the total ban. But between the total ban at wala tayong gagawin, I want to focus on regulations that work,” Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions, and Currencies, said during a joint hearing on online gambling recently.
The veteran legislator pressed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to consider tighter restrictions, including a possible ban, on the use of e-wallets for online gambling.
The seasoned lawmaker drew parallels between safeguards in physical casinos and the largely unregulated payment systems in online betting.
“Sa e-sabong kasi, nakita natin ang difference ng may betting station at ‘yung nagagamit ang e-wallets [sa online gaming]. Have you decided or still under consideration whether ipagbawal ang paggamit ng e-wallets?” the senator asked BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan.
“Unlike online betting, physical casinos impose safeguards, limiting the cash a player can bring, restricting ATM withdrawals, and even barring those with gambling problems.”
Cayetano explained that unlike online betting, physical casinos impose safeguards, limiting the cash a player can bring, restricting ATM withdrawals, and even barring those with gambling problems.
He also compared e-wallets to banks covered by anti-money laundering laws, noting that while banks are not the ones laundering money, they can be penalized for becoming conduits.
“So ‘pag nagiging conduit ngayon ang e-wallets, sa laki ng kita nila, they don’t need this,” Cayetano said.
He asked Tangonan to submit data on how much e-wallet firms earn from regular transactions versus online gaming, as the BSP has already suspended in-app links to gambling sites and is finalizing rules to prohibit such payments, including those via credit cards.
Cayetano said his opposition to online gambling has come at personal cost, pointing to a 25-year record that began with his filing of the Anti-Gambling Act in 2000 and his continued push for measures banning online gambling and its advertisements.
“I lost my Speakership (of the House of Representatives) partly because of e-sabong.”
“I lost my Speakership (of the House of Representatives) partly because of e-sabong because I did not calendar the franchise bill of e-sabong operators. I was threatened, but it’s worth the cost,” he concluded.
