.svg)
The Philippine President’s avoidance of domestic online gambling issues in this year’s congressional appearance has encouraged the industry and frustrated its foes amid finance secretary support for taxation over prohibition.
Other than brief praise for gambling regulator PAGCOR on unrelated matters, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s State of the Nation address in Manila on Monday (July 28) steered clear of gambling altogether, disappointing supporters of tougher controls or a full ban.
Lawmaker and civic group expectations of a sequel to last year’s address, in which Marcos killed off the bulk of the foreign-facing online gambling industry, had grown after the President criticised the impact of gambling on families and indicated he was considering a full ban.
Finance secretary Ralph Recto on Tuesday said the government is considering a full ban on the industry, but Recto’s comments on tighter regulation and the importance of gambling revenue to the government point to a strong executive reluctance to go down that road.
“The President is concerned [about the matter]. There will be additional regulation, possibly more [tax] revenues … it’s still under discussion,” Recto told the ABS-CBN news service in a mix of English and Filipino.
An increase from the current rate of 25 percent after years of PAGCOR rate cuts, along with revised cash-in requirements, severance of e-wallet gambling transactions, daily time limits for gamblers and mandatory listing for online gambling companies are among measures under consideration.
The tax “could be 30 percent, it could be 35 percent, it could be 40 percent. We’re studying that, because if it’s too high, the illegal operators could grow even larger”, Recto said.
Gambling regulator PAGCOR “have the authority [to adjust fees] so there’s no need for us to go to Congress”.
“My advice: do not gamble,” Recto said.
“Having said that, if people do gamble, I would rather regulate it than they go to the illegal [operators].
“Today, my understanding is 60 percent [of the Philippine online market] is illegal and 40 percent is legal. If you ban, 100 percent will become illegal. It’s a balancing act.”
The tighter compliance parameters could act as a valuable political circuit breaker for the industry while defending against illegal operations.
Marcos’ apparent reluctance to dismantle the domestic online gambling industry also prompted supportive comments from industry lawyers and other observers, while the share price of leading Philippine online operator DigiPlus Interactive at publication time was up 26 percent since Monday morning.
Senators leading the charge against the industry could barely contain their frustration.
“It is unfortunate that the President didn’t present his position on the scourge of online gambling,” Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva said on Monday.
“We maintain our call for a complete ban,” he told reporters in Filipino. “It contributes nothing to our society.”
Heavyweight anti-gambling senator Risa Hontiveros, whose political star is rising after years of combatting official corruption, said Marcos’ silence on the industry was a “missed opportunity”.
In a statement on Tuesday, PAGCOR offered a reminder of the fiscal stakes involved in the debate, reporting that overall industry revenue was up 26 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to 214.75bn pesos ($3.73bn), of which online gambling and bingo revenue claimed 114.83bn pesos, or 53.5 percent of the market.
That market share figure for the online and bingo segments was up from 49.4 percent in the first quarter of 2025, indicating that online gambling’s explosive growth is slowing. But it is also poised to dominate PAGCOR’s books and Marcos' Presidential Office coffers for years to come if it remains legal.
