Philippine government urged to ban online gambling advertisements
A former Philippine anti-corruption official has called on the national government to expand its crackdown on illegal online gambling, including banning ads promoting such platforms.
Nicasio Conti, the former commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, who is now the Chief Executive of Capstone Intel Corporation, said that online gambling was a silent epidemic that was particularly dangerous to vulnerable demographics, including young people and the financially at-risk.
“Online gambling is available 24/7, disguised as entertainment, and aggressively glamorized through ads. This normalizes addiction and destroys lives quietly,” Conti told the Manila Bulletin.
Conti pointed out that there had been a shift from “online sabong” to digital casinos and games, and that online content creators often trivialized these. He also stressed the need for a multi-agency effort to tackle the threats posed by the new sector, calling gambling a public health issue rather than a question of “private vice”.
Conti urged the government to create stronger safeguards in line with international standards and raised concerns about the role of digital financial tools like e-wallets and online banks in facilitating gambling transactions, with the associated increased risk of debt, addiction, and money laundering.
The appeal comes as the government ramps up its crackdown on illegal gambling sites. Lawmakers recently passed the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 to strengthen the ban on foreign operators.
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