Philippine online gambling operators targeted in anti-money laundering overhaul

Ziv Chen

19 March 2026 at 8:11am UTC-4

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Online gambling operators in the Philippines may face more stringent anti-money laundering compliance standards under proposals to update the country’s financial crime framework.

Senator Joel Villanueva has filed Senate Bill No. 1983, rewriting the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Act to include digital transactions and cybercrime, according to the Philippine News Agency.

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A key part of the bill adds online casino operators to those who must abide by the rules.

The bill reflects rising concern over the use of digital payments to hide illegal financial transactions. By including online gambling operators, lawmakers say they will improve oversight of a sector that handles high-volume transactions.

“We need a tougher law to catch up with the criminals trying to cover their illicit financial tracks,” Villanueva said.

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The measure would boost the powers of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, so it can block transactions and issue administrative freeze orders and subpoenas. Court procedures would also be sped up.

Stricter customer due diligence and reporting obligations are proposed, alongside tougher administrative penalties for non-compliance. The bill includes new data security rules and gives the Anti-Money Laundering Council the power to use seized assets to fund enforcement efforts.

This week, the Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission also partnered with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre to tackle offshore gambling operators.

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The Backstory

How online betting became a policy flashpoint

Lawmakers’ latest push to harden anti-money laundering rules for internet casinos caps a two-year sprint to keep up with a fast-growing, shape-shifting market. The Anti-Money Laundering Council has intensified its scrutiny of gambling platforms and digital payments after the Philippines exited the Financial Action Task Force’s watchlist in February 2025, with officials warning that rapid adoption of online play presents fresh risks. In a sign of both progress and pressure, the AMLC began a formal risk assessment of web-based betting to preserve recent gains after correcting 18 deficiencies flagged by FATF. At the same time, gambling revenues have surged, lifting the stakes for regulators: the country’s gaming take rose 24.8% in 2024 to PHP410.5 billion, with online revenues up more than threefold to PHP135.7 billion, according to the sector’s overseer. That backdrop frames the new legislative drive to extend due diligence, expand freezing powers and speed court procedures for cyber-enabled financial crime. For context on the watchdog’s stance and the industry’s growth, see the AMLC’s stepped-up review in the council’s heightened examination of online gambling following FATF’s decision.

After the POGO era, a tougher perimeter

The proposed overhaul builds on a cascade of policy shifts that reshaped the offshore gambling industry. What were once known as POGOs were rebranded as Internet Gaming Licensees in 2023, before the government moved to ban them effective Jan. 1, 2025. Authorities argued the model had become a magnet for criminal activity, from cyberfraud to human trafficking, and that foreign-facing operators were too often beyond effective oversight. The ban has not erased risk, as regulators and analysts warned that clandestine activity can migrate to shadow channels. A high-profile investigation underscored those concerns: prosecutors recently approved dozens of money laundering counts tied to a shuttered POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac, implicating a former local official and associates in schemes that included gambling-related flows alongside love, investment and crypto scams. The case highlights how illicit networks can entwine betting revenues with other digital crimes, complicating traditional AML playbooks. Details are in the prosecution of former mayor Alice Guo over alleged laundering tied to a POGO site.

Payment chokepoints and the cat-and-mouse over e-wallets

Enforcement attention has increasingly shifted from front-end gaming sites to the payment rails that move money in and out. Central bank orders in mid-August 2025 forced major e-wallets to strip in-app gambling access, a step applauded by senators pressing for curbs on addiction and financial harm. Yet within days, licensed platforms and offshore sites signaled end runs, directing customers to messaging apps and alternative processors to keep deposits flowing. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center reported thousands of illegal gambling domains taken down, but many more remained online. The episode shows why lawmakers are now targeting both transactional transparency and platform liability, aiming to expand administrative freeze orders and subpoena powers that can disrupt flows at the processor level. For a snapshot of how fast payments pivoted after the central bank’s move, see operators’ workarounds after e-wallet restrictions and mass site takedowns.

Enforcement cases broaden, region watches

While Manila ratchets up oversight, recent cases at home and in neighboring markets offer a playbook for following the money. In Taiwan, prosecutors arrested 35 people linked to laundering more than NT$30.6 billion through payment gateways that serviced illegal betting sites across Asia. Investigators say the group built bespoke processors, then layered in their own casino platform, blending settlement functions with gaming content to obscure flows. The case mirrors tactics flagged by Philippine authorities, where shell firms, rented offices and false fronts have dogged attempts to map beneficial owners. Regional enforcement underscores two dynamics likely to shape Philippine policy: the need to supervise nonbank payment firms as critical nodes, and the risk that platforms can redeploy cross-border at speed. Read more in Taiwan’s arrests over laundering through illegal gambling sites and custom payment systems.

Political pressure widens to the public sector

The regulatory turn is not confined to licensing rules and AML statutes. Politicians are pressing for behavioral curbs in government workplaces, citing both integrity concerns and exposure to fraud. A leading proponent of tighter anti-money laundering measures has urged the Civil Service Commission to prohibit online betting by public employees and block access on government networks, arguing that current prohibitions on casino visits should extend to digital platforms. The call signals that compliance expectations may stretch beyond licensed operators to institutional users and network administrators, pushing agencies to harden filters and monitoring. The proposal, which would not require new legislation, is detailed in the bid to ban online gambling among civil servants and restrict access in public offices.

What the next phase could look like

If enacted, the bill would align statutory tools with the way illicit finance actually moves through the modern betting stack: fast, digital and intermediated. Enhanced customer due diligence and reporting obligations would raise baseline scrutiny for operators handling high-volume transactions. Administrative freeze and subpoena powers would help the AMLC act in hours, not weeks, to lock down suspect flows before they dissipate across wallets and cross-border rails. Tighter data security rules and the ability to channel seized assets back into enforcement could bolster capacity in an arms race with agile networks.

The broader policy arc matters for the market. A cleaner compliance profile helps preserve the country’s status with FATF, lowering friction for banks and payment firms that service the industry. But as revenues swell, the political calculus hardens: leaders weigh tax and tourism upside against social costs and the reputational hit from high-profile cases. Expect more joint actions like the AMLC’s collaboration with the cybercrime agency, stepped-up audits of payment processors and messaging platforms, and targeted crackdowns on unlicensed sites that piggyback on legitimate rails.

The through line from the POGO crackdown to e-wallet restrictions and now a legislative AML upgrade is clear: regulators want to narrow the space where gambling, digital payments and organized crime overlap. Whether that reduces risk will hinge on execution—rapid, data-driven enforcement; closer public-private intelligence sharing; and an ability to anticipate how operators rewire around each new control. For signals on how officials are calibrating that balance, watch the AMLC’s ongoing risk assessment of online betting modalities and the banking system’s responses outlined in the council’s review following the Philippines’ removal from FATF’s grey list.