A SENATOR has filed a bill that seeks to make online gambling illegal in the Philippines. 

“The social cost of gambling is too high — bankruptcy, broken families and criminal activities, among others,” Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva said in Senate Bill 1281’s explanatory note. 

The social cost for each pathological gambler is $9,393 yearly or about half a million pesos, he said, citing a 2011 study from Baylor University in Texas. 

“This bill seeks to prohibit online gambling and the placing of wagers or bets through the internet or any form of online gambling activities to prevent further deterioration of morals and values, encourage people to work instead of relying on a game of chance, stop addiction and save lives,” he added. 

Under the Anti-Online Gambling bill, a person who places, receives or transmits a bet or wager through the internet will be imprisoned for up to six months or fined as much as P500,000. 

If the offender is a company, its president, director, manager and other officers will be fined P500,000 or jailed for five years.