• Legal online gaming transactions in the Philippines have fallen by as much as 50% following a central bank order to block e-wallet payments to gambling sites, according to PAGCOR.
• PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco told lawmakers that the ban has had the immediate and predictable effect of fuelling a surge in illegal gambling activity.
• Tengco revealed the scale of the problem, estimating that 12,000 illegal sites are active, compared to just 77 platforms licensed by PAGCOR.
• The regulator admitted it lacks the legal authority to shut down these offshore websites directly and can only refer them to law enforcement for action.
• Despite the disruption, PAGCOR is still forecasting significant revenue from online gaming in 2025, highlighting the sector’s importance to state finances.

The head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has confirmed that a recent government directive to block e-wallet payments to gambling sites has had a catastrophic and immediate impact on the regulated market.

Testifying before a House committee, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco stated that legal online gaming transactions in the country had plummeted by “perhaps 50 percent” in the days following the implementation of the ban. He confirmed that all 77 PAGCOR-licensed operators had fully complied with the 14 August directive from the country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Beneficiary: A Surging Black Market

In a stark admission of the policy’s unintended consequences, Tengco warned lawmakers that the payment blockade has directly benefited the sprawling illegal gambling market. He stated that the “real problem” of youth gambling addiction and other social harms is being driven by these unregulated platforms, not by the licensed sector.

To illustrate the scale of the challenge, Tengco revealed some alarming figures:

• He estimates that 60% of all operators currently targeting Filipino players are illegal.
• There are approximately 12,000 active illegal gambling sites, many hosted in Russia, Dubai, and Cambodia.
• This is compared to just 77 legal and regulated platforms under PAGCOR’s supervision.

Crucially, Tengco admitted that PAGCOR is largely powerless to stop them, as the regulator lacks the legal authority to shut down offshore websites directly. Its role is limited to identifying suspicious platforms and passing the information to law enforcement agencies.

Regulator Proposes New Rules for Legal Operators

In response to the growing concerns about problem gambling, Tengco said PAGCOR is considering introducing new rules for its own licensees, such as setting minimum deposit and betting requirements. The move would be aimed at discouraging excessive play on the legal platforms. However, it also risks further disadvantaging the regulated sector as it competes with a black market that operates with no such restrictions.

An Uncertain Future for a Key Market

The situation highlights a deep and seemingly uncoordinated conflict in the Philippine government’s approach to gambling. While one agency ( BSP) has taken an action that has crippled the legal, tax-paying market, the gaming regulator ( PAGCOR) is left to manage the consequences of a booming black market that it admits it can’t effectively police.

Despite the turmoil, PAGCOR is still forecasting that online gaming will generate up to PHP65 billion ($1.14bn) of its total PHP116.65 billion revenue forecast for 2025. This underscores how vital the legal digital sector is to state finances, and how much is being put at risk by the current regulatory approach.