ON TikTok, an internet personality recounted how she became addicted to online gambling and lost P5 million to this addiction. She talked about how it started with online sabong (cockfighting) until she moved to online bingo and, finally, online casinos where she’d play the slot machines or Baccarat.

What was surprising to me was not only what happened to this person, because P5 million is a lot of money and I assume that she worked hard for what she had because she started out joining beauty contests. In the comments section, people were sympthatizing with her and recounting how they (or a family member) became addicted to online gambling. It was sad, really, because these people also worked hard for all that money they had lost. That money could have gone to their savings and investments, purchasing property, or going on vacations. Instead, it all went to people who are already rich. 

I realize how easy it is to access online gambling sites these days. If you are on X (formerly known as Twitter), those ads featuring some of the country’s biggest stars go straight to these sites if you press a link. That’s okay if you are an adult because you are accountable for your decisions but there are so many minors on X.

Now, I understand how some artists and influencers are being called out for endorsing online gambling. These sites being so easily accessible means that anyone can log in and play. I am not condemning anyone who endorses these sites. Again, it is every adult’s choice on whether to gamble or not. It’s just scary how easy it is to do it now.

I remember how a relative became  addicted to gambling and lost a lot of money so what she did was have herself banned at casinos. That cannot be done with online gambling. You can’t ban yourself from online casinos.

Gambling is an addiction. It is not easy to just stop doing it. The Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs, did not originally intend to get Filipinos to gamble. They just wanted to base their operations here. As time went on however, it became difficult for the government to regulate. Eventually, the problem increased as the number of unlicensed operators grew.

After President Bongbong Marcos ordered a ban on POGOs in the Philippines, the government formed a multi-agency task force to oversee the shutdown of 41 licensed POGOs. The Department of Justice is facilitating the closure with a task force that includes the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission and the Bureau of Immigration. The number of POGOs peaked in the country at 300 in 2019. 

The term “POGOs” covers a range of activities, including online gambling, scams, and other operations. Online gambling may involve casino games, sports betting, or livestream wagers, but the way these games are operated are said to be predatory in nature. The games allegedly get the players hooked on gambling, making sure they lose. During the peak of POGOs in the Philippines, there were said to be hundreds of thousands of employees working and living in high-rise buildings in major cities and even rural areas. Some employees were reportedly not allowed to go out unless on specific days for security purposes.

These POGOs brought in hundreds of billions of pesos every year for the government but the socio-political costs far outweighed these benefits. Crimes were reported, including cases of murders, kidnapping, and human trafficking. This is not even mentioning the number of unlicensed and unregulated POGOs. So many Filipinos became addicted to online gambling and with every Filipino losing money to these POGOs, there are family members and friends from whom they borrowed money to play. Some have even stolen from or cheated people close to them. Unregulated or regulated online gambling has been linked to financial ruin, prostitution, money laundering, and detorioration of community values. Imagine that even the poshest of villages have seen houses being rented out for POGO operations. 

The raid of the infamous Bamban facility, for instance, was said to have resulted in the rescue of 383 Filipinos, 202 Chinese, and other foreign nationals. The ensuing arrest and deportation of nearly 200 Chinese nationals working illegally at the Bamban POGO illustrates that the line separating licensed POGOs from organized crime is very thin and can be crossed anytime.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who has led the Senate investigation on POGOs, disclosed that many Chinese nationals working in these facilities have managed to obtain fraudulent Filipino identities through corrupt individuals in government agencies. This underscores the moral and actual dangers posed by unregulated online gambling to the country and its citizens.

Image credits: PHOTO BY RUPIXEN ON UNSPLASH