The Philippine Entertainment Lottery Corporation (PAGCOR) is considering strengthening the regulation of online lottery, including through enhanced player identification, the establishment of problem gambling helplines and the possible total ban on advertising.
In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Play and Recreation, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco stated: “As digital lottery continues to develop, PAGCOR has implemented a number of important regulatory upgrades to protect players’ rights and interests, promote transparency and ensure that online lottery operates in a safe and regulated environment.” Alejandro Tengco states that, in addition to existing measures, regulators are considering further expansion of the current ban on advertising for broadcasting media. Some radio and television stations asked if they could continue to advertise in non-gold hours to maintain advertising revenues. For us, if possible, we would like to totally ban all gambling advertising at all times.” In 2025, PAGCOR had ordered the removal of outdoor billboards related to gambling and advertisements on buses, taxis and trains. At the same time, the Agency requires the Advertising Standards Commission to pre-screen the promotion of lottery on social media and other digital platforms. Non-compliance advertisements will be blocked by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Centre and the National Telecommunications Commission.
The head of the PAGCOR Electronic Lottery Licensing Department, Jessa Mariz Fernandez, stated that the regulator was “closing” the rules relating to customer identification in order to prevent the player from circumventing the identification procedure. In addition to names and contact details, users are now required to submit a valid government-issued identification document and to upload a real-time self-portrait photograph at the time of deposit for verification. Jessa Mariz Fernandez also indicated that PAGCOR would translate the newly adopted advocacy slogans into multiple languages to raise public awareness of the risks involved. According to InsiderPH, regulators deliberately chose to use the term “gambling” rather than the more euphemistic term “gaming” in order to “pre-empt increasingly stringent legislative reviews and public rebound in fast-growing industries”. In addition, PAGCOR is working with the non-profit organization Seagulls Flock Organization to develop a round-the-clock gambling helpline. The organization will host the third International Lottery and Play Addiction Congress in Manila from 18 to 20 May. At the Committee’s hearing on Wednesday, Alejandro Tengco also stressed: “With regard to the 32 million adult users mentioned earlier on the legal platform, only the number of registered users, the actual active player is about 10 million”. He pointed out that customary players might duplicate registrations on multiple platforms. “This is a pathological act, which continues to be a bet when they get lucky on one of the platforms; if they lose, other operators will be transferred.”
At the same time, PAGCOR is lobbying for the restoration of electronic wallets for related transactions in the context of the announcement of new regulatory measures for online lottery. Last August, the Central Bank of the Philippines ordered that electronic wallets such as GCash, Maya and others immediately remove links from the use-oriented lottery website. Alejandro Tengco stated during the ICE exhibition in Barcelona in January this year that a better player protection mechanism should convince the central bank to “re-allocate links between paying service providers and electronic lottery operators” and that the new bond system is expected to further strengthen industry development.
