Cebu City in the Philippines bans gambling advertisements
The City Council of Cebu City in the Philippines has introduced a gambling advertisement ban, which it says is in response to worries about gambling addiction and the exposure of minors.
The ban was passed on Wednesday and applies to all forms of gambling advertisements, including billboards, posters, printed materials, digital promotions, and LED screens.
As part of its decision, the City Council said that it had a duty to protect the welfare and wellbeing of its constituents, particularly those who were vulnerable. It referred to reports that linked gambling advertisements to addiction, financial problems, and broader social harm.
The resolution also stated that highly visible, unregulated gambling promotions effectively normalized risk-taking behavior and exposed young people to powerful marketing techniques. The City Council noted that the ban is intended to create a healthier media environment.
The ban will be enforced through cooperation between the Cebu City Business Process and Licensing Office, the City Police, City Legal Office, and other government agencies, which will work together to monitor and remove any offending advertisements.
In addition to passing the gambling advertising ban, councillors also approved a proposal aimed at discouraging government employees from engaging in online gambling during office hours and reinforced earlier rules that block access to gambling sites on city-run networks.
The Philippine gambling regulator, PAGCOR, has also been working to regulate the online gambling sector and has recently introduced stricter responsible gaming controls in response to an increase in activity.
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The Backstory
How Cebu’s move fits a broader clampdown
Cebu City’s decision to outlaw public-facing gambling promotions follows a year of mounting pressure in the Philippines to curb problem play, choke off illicit operators and reduce exposure for minors. While the city framed its measure as a public health and welfare response, similar steps in other jurisdictions and actions by national agencies show a coordinated, if still uneven, pivot toward tighter controls on both marketing and access.
Local governments have increasingly treated visibility as a risk factor, arguing that ubiquitous ads normalize betting behavior. Cebu’s ban on billboards, posters, printed materials, LED screens and digital promotions mirrors the playbook other cities have started to deploy, often with cross-agency enforcement to monitor violations and remove materials. The effect is to shift the risk surface from city streets and public networks back to licensed premises and regulated channels, while signaling to Manila that localities are prepared to move faster than national law.
Metro Manila precedent: Pasig draws a line on street ads
Just days earlier, Pasig City set a reference point for how urban centers can cut gambling’s footprint in public spaces. Under Ordinance No. 26 s-2025, the city banned promotions on billboards, city-regulated public transport, terminals, building wraps, LED screens, brochures and flyers, allowing advertising only within the four walls of licensed venues. Mayor Vico Sotto cast the policy as a way to curb triggers for relapse and protect vulnerable residents, citing research on the influence of promotional cues. For details on the scope and rationale, see Pasig’s move to ban public gambling ads.
Pasig’s ordinance is important beyond its borders. It offers a model ordinance with granular placement rules, creates a compliance baseline for media owners and transport operators, and pressures neighboring cities to harmonize standards to avoid ad spillover. Cebu’s action tracks that logic, advancing a de facto template for municipal regulation even as national law still permits gambling advertising in most contexts.
Cutting off access at the source: city networks go dark
Restricting visibility is one lever; limiting access is another. Cebu City has already moved to harden its digital infrastructure against igaming. The council approved a resolution directing the Management Information and Computer Services office to block known gambling domains and virtual private network tools on government systems and public Wi-Fi. The measure also reiterates an on-duty gambling ban for city employees, with violations subject to administrative sanctions. Read more on the network controls and enforcement remit in Cebu’s resolution to ban igaming and VPN use on government networks.
Technically, blocking VPNs matters because they are often used to bypass domain filters, especially for offshore sites. Practically, the city’s approach aligns with a national push to close access gaps while lawmakers debate wider prohibitions. By targeting both content (ads) and connectivity (network routes), Cebu is building a layered defense that other local governments can replicate quickly without waiting for new statutes.
Church and civil society amplify moral and political pressure
Public health framing has been reinforced by moral suasion from the Catholic Church, which remains an influential voice in the region. The archbishop-designate of Cebu, Alberto Uy, urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and lawmakers to impose a total and permanent ban on online gambling, calling it a “public sin” that destroys families and corrupts values. His appeal, which followed a Catholic Bishops’ Conference call for tighter restrictions, is detailed in this report on the Cebu archbishop-designate’s plea to ban online gambling.
Civil society figures have echoed the demand for tougher guardrails. Former anti-corruption commissioner Nicasio Conti called online gambling a “silent epidemic,” urging a national ban on ads for illegal platforms and stronger controls on digital payments that enable round-the-clock betting. His remarks, and the call for a multi-agency response, are outlined in the push to ban online gambling advertisements nationwide.
Together, these voices give political cover to local councils tightening rules, and they raise the stakes for regulators balancing fiscal interests against social costs.
National enforcement targets offshore operators
While cities constrain visibility and access, national agencies are sharpening enforcement against Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, or POGOs, following a presidential order to ban offshore operators. The Bureau of Immigration recently closed a loophole by prohibiting layover flights for deportees tied to POGO-related crimes, requiring direct flights where available. The policy aims to prevent relocation and regrouping in neighboring jurisdictions. The bureau coupled the rule with active raids, including a Makati City operation that resulted in 131 arrests. Details are in the report on the Bureau of Immigration’s tighter deportation rules for POGO fugitives.
This enforcement arc matters for Cebu’s ad ban because the line between illegal offshore sites and legal domestic offerings is often blurred in consumer-facing promotions. Broad-brush ad restrictions reduce the chance that illicit actors gain brand exposure in public spaces, even as national agencies work to dismantle their operations and financial pipelines.
The policy trajectory and what to watch
Local bans in Cebu and Pasig point to a bottom-up policy cascade: cities move first on ads and network access, national agencies follow with prosecutions and immigration controls, and lawmakers weigh whether to codify tighter rules at scale. If Congress advances bills to curb online gambling or its marketing nationwide, municipal actions today could become the skeleton for federal standards tomorrow.
Stakeholders face clear implications. Advertising and out-of-home media owners in Cebu will need rapid compliance strategies and monitoring protocols as city departments coordinate takedowns. Licensed casinos and betting shops must recalibrate marketing to venue-only placements and strengthen responsible gaming tools to preempt broader restrictions. Payment providers and e-wallet platforms can expect higher scrutiny on transaction monitoring if calls like Conti’s gain traction.
For consumers, reduced exposure may dampen impulsive play and lower relapse triggers, but the efficacy will depend on enforcement against digital campaigns and influencer promotions that slip across city and national borders. That is where Cebu’s VPN and domain blocks on public networks — and the normalization of similar controls in other cities — could become a meaningful backstop.
The through line is consistent: visibility, access and enforcement are converging. Cebu’s ban extends the visibility front, its network restrictions target access, and national agencies are tightening enforcement against offshore operators. The next inflection point will be whether Congress or regulators translate these local experiments into nationwide policy — and whether industry adapts with stricter self-governance before that happens.
