The Philippine government has shuttered 7000 unlicensed gambling websites, it claims. It comes as the country tries to curb addiction to the platforms, but is struggling with the rising tide of unregulated platforms entering the country.
In a press briefing, the Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said:
“The government’s problem now is that there are many illegal gaming websites, and they have already 7,000 websites that have been shut down.
“That’s all, once they are shut down, the website will change again.”
(Machine translated via Google Translate)
According to reports, concerns over particular “Scatter” games were brought up repeatedly. Scatter is a slots game where the symbols don’t need to line up to match. However, Castro insisted that the game was provided under the license of the country’s watchdog, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
Philippine gov: Report gambling addiction to PAGCOR
Castro has insisted that if citizens find a relative who is addicted, they should report it to PAGCOR so that they can banned:
“If a family is having problems with their relative because they are addicted to gambling, they can immediately go to PAGCOR to have this person banned from gambling.”
(Machine translated via Google Translate)
The Philippine government has also recently deported 100 Chinese nationals from the country in its efforts to stamp out illegal gambling. However, this has had a knock-on effect of separating families in the region, including a father to a six-month-old.
In May, it also began to cut ties with a VIP junket that was involved with the kidnapping of businessman Congyuan Guo.
Offshore and unlicensed gambling platforms have become a problem not just in the Philippines but around the world. A new report from the US found that a vast majority of cash is sent abroad, while Japan tussles with its rising gambling addiction.
