During the hearing at the Senate, Senator Gatchalian stated that illegal sites are repeatedly surfacing with new domain addresses despite being blocked several times. He also mentioned the statistics from 2025, which showed that more than 32 million Filipinos were engaging in online gambling within a single month. That constitutes almost half of the country’s adult population.
The statistics from 2025 showed an increase from the total number of 8.2 million adults who were engaging in online gambling at the end of 2024.
In his remarks, Senator Gatchalian mentioned that easy access to online gambling using mobile devices contributes to higher risks of addiction, financial problems, and social harms. These factors, according to him, could potentially lead to crimes committed by those addicted to online gambling.
Why Offshore Operators Keep Slipping the Net
As officials at the hearing stated, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) has already blocked an average of 50,000 illegal online gambling sites. However, it’s estimated that 95-97% of these sites are operated from outside the Philippines, making it difficult for local law enforcement to do anything about them.
This is the point that Gatchalian makes with his argument. If most of the platforms are operated offshore, blocking them in the Philippines is only a continuous clean-up job, but not a lasting fix.
Enforcement Ideas: Treaties and “Cyber-Diplomats”
CICC Executive Director Renato Paraiso told lawmakers that the government could improve cross-border mechanisms. Particularly, that could be done by expanding mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) to include cybercrime, as well as appointing “cyber-diplomats” to enhance global cooperation for digital enforcement.
Gatchalian, on the other hand, has been advocating for more stringent regulations rather than a complete ban. He believes that banning the practice could drive it underground.
The Policy Trade-Off: Player Protection vs State Revenue
The push comes as regulators consider the impact of stricter regulations on licensed operators. For instance, following the removal of in-app links associated with gambling by e-wallet operators, PAGCOR officials noted a significant drop in revenue. Philstar quoted a 49% drop, with monthly revenue falling to PHP 2.9 billion in September from PHP 5.7 billion in May 2025.
This dilemma of consumer protection, enforceability, and revenue implications keeps the issue in the limelight. Illegal operators seem to spring back to life in no time compared to licensed operators, who have to deal with increased friction in payments and registration.
Takeaways for Operators and Suppliers
Simple domain blocking seems to be insufficient when dealing with illegal gambling, and more control over the broader infrastructure is required. Among the crucial elements that need to be managed are cooperation across borders, identity verification, and payment services.
Companies that operate in a regulated industry can expect increased scrutiny over traffic acquisition, protection against spoofing, and the time taken to remove suspicious domains and mirror sites.
