WITH THE PROLIFERATION of high-end casinos, bingo joints, and tupadas/cockpit arenas, lottery and small time lottery outlets, where people place bets on their desired numbers, horses/cocks and so many other forms of gambling, I can’t understand why we even tolerate online gambling (through phones and other gadgets) that youngsters, farmers and fisherfolk and the poor get addicted to even to the point of nothingness.
For a time, the e-sabong was a big craze that even children who are naturally adept at using their mobile phones were gambling their school allowances and so with the farmers and fishermen in remote areas pawning their meager farm lands just to place bets on the chickens they have no control over, neither are they aware of the temperaments and care given to them by their owners.
The Philippines has embraced the gambling culture faster than China and Spain, which colonized our country for the longest time, which is why even up to now most of our people remain dirt poor.
There was a time beneficiaries of the 4Ps program betted on such gambling platforms, prompting people to call for the scrapping of the program, which is only being abused. Even pensioners and some public school teachers were hooked to gambling that they pawned their ATM cards even before they could get the money due them.
‘Due to its accessibility, online gambling activities have magnified the dangers from gambling and have been linked to the erosion of our moral fiber, as it has caused an increase in mental health problems, financial problems, addictive behavior, vices, and crime rates.’
MISERABLE STATE
Such is the miserable state of our affairs that Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed on July 1 a bill that seeks to implement stricter rules for online gambling platforms to curb the rise of gambling addiction among younger Filipinos.
But to me, this is not the solution. We must completely ban online gambling.
The proposed measure seeks to raise the minimum cash-in requirement for online gambling platforms to P10,000, while a P5,000 minimum top-up is required to deter compulsive gamblers, reported Business World.
FROM 18 TO 21
Gatchalian eyes raising the minimum legal gambling age to 21 from 18, to protect young Filipinos from early exposure to online gambling.
“We also have regulations, so that not everyone can enter online gambling,” he added.
“Even with P20 you can gamble. That’s why many people are now entering, and the regulations are very weak.”
He said that the bill also bans the sponsorship of gambling platforms from public events and prohibits gaming entities from donating to campaigns.
It mandates regulators to allocate a portion of collected regulatory fees toward the establishment of gambling addiction rehabilitation centers.
He added that online banks would also be prohibited from facilitating gambling transactions.
“Due to its accessibility, online gambling activities have magnified the dangers from gambling and have been linked to the erosion of our moral fiber, as it has caused an increase in mental health problems, financial problems, addictive behavior, vices, and crime rates,” he said.
ENFORCE!
Gatchalian also called on the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to strengthen their enforcement against illegal gaming websites.
“I strongly urge PAGCOR, along with the DICT, NBI, police, and other law enforcement agencies, to conduct a thorough operation to block these websites from being accessed by local internet users,” he said in a statement.
He also called on the agencies to expedite their crackdown on illegal online platforms.