Rep. Rolando Valeriano
REPRESENTATIVE Rolando “CRV” Valeriano, of Second District of Manila, announced plans to file a bill on Monday that seeks to revoke all permits and licenses issued to businesses operating e-sabong and other forms of online gambling in the Philippines.
The representative praised the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for its recent initiative to draft a new circular aimed at addressing online gambling, following his earlier call for the BSP to prohibit electronic payment systems and e-wallets from facilitating online gambling. He acknowledged, however, that the BSP’s actions are limited by existing laws.
Representative Valeriano explained that his proposed bill directly targets the root of the problem—the gambling operators themselves—rather than focusing solely on e-payment systems and e-wallets.
By revoking licenses, the bill aims to eliminate the entities that e-payment providers currently interact with, effectively cutting off the flow of funds to online gambling operations. The representative suggested that the BSP could further minimize the negative impact of online gambling by implementing measures such as raising the gambling age, increasing minimum bets, setting bet ceilings, and strengthening “know your customer” standards.
The representative’s bill represents a more comprehensive approach to addressing online gambling concerns than the BSP’s regulatory measures.
While the BSP can implement measures to mitigate the risks associated with online gambling through existing regulations, Representative Valeriano’s proposed legislation seeks to eliminate the problem at its source by directly targeting the licensed operators.
The filing of this bill is expected to generate significant debate regarding the regulation and control of online gambling in the Philippines.
