A CONGRESSMAN has filed a bill that seeks to outlaw online gambling in the Philippines.

“While it has been a way for the government to generate income, this should not come at the cost of endangering our people, let alone minors, with activities that bring about addictive behavior as well as an increase of mental health and financial problems, vices and crime rates,” Taguig-Pateros Rep. Ricardo S. Cruz, Jr. said in the explanatory note of House Bill 7689.

Under the measure, anyone who places a bet on the internet could be jailed for as long as six months or fined as much as P500,000, depending on the court’s decision.

The president, director, manager and partners of a corporate violator could be slapped a jail term of up to five years or fined as much as P500,000.

A public officer or employee involved in or encourages online gambling will suffer maximum penalties, could be dismissed from public service and get disqualified from holding any public office or from voting.

Mr. Cruz said online gambling platforms such as electronic cockfighting have been “linked to the destruction of the nation’s moral fabric.”

A counterpart measure in the Senate is pending at the committee level.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., which regulates online gambling and gaming operations, has said it earns about P9 million a day from legal gambling companies.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian last month urged local governments to ban Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) to protect them from crimes.

He said some local governments that are POGO hubs have begun to doubt the benefits of these mostly Chinese online gambling operators on their economy. These include the cities of Manila, Pasay and Parañaque, he added.

Mr. Gatchalian, who heads the ways and means committee, said Pasig City was the first to approve an ordinance banning POGOs after seeing that the social costs outweigh the benefits.

He earlier presented the results of his committee’s inquiry in plenary, noting that “the POGO experiment has failed to provide the promised economic benefits to the Filipino people.”

“Instead, POGOs have created new avenues for crime and corruption, damaging our country’s reputation among diplomatic allies, foreign investors, potential tourists and even our own countrymen,” he told the Senate floor. — BMDC