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A politician in the Philippines claimed to have had a hand in the development of the very controversial e-sabong platform he operated e-sabong so he can make a lot of money so he can use for the campaign, and his family to win local elections because the election in the Philippines is very costly many candidates are buying votes to secure their win, there were reports that he murdered their family's opponent because of e-sabong.
Do you think that government should have a rule or a law for election candidates not to have a franchise in any form of gambling, in fact, there are a lot of politicians who are operators of illegal small-town lotteries this is to accumulate funds they can use for election campaigns.

Congressman confirms past stint with e-sabong when it was not yet banned by gov’t (https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1758883/fwd-teves-admits-previously-operating-an-e-sabong-but-claims-it-was-not-gambling)

I do not think it is what they even accept as gambling is Philippines by some people. But if it is accepted as gambling, it is stated in the news that it was legal before when the man was involved in it.

If the government legalize gambling, anyone can be involved in gambling. But countries will have their own rules about government officials to be involved in gambling or not.

In Albania in 2019 all online sites were banned from being accessed from all ISP-s with an order directly for the Prime Minister and only the domain and gambling site where the brother of the Prime Minister was the main shareholder was let for people to play there.I am not at all surprised of politicians trying to get as much money as possible as where I reside now in Western Balkans,corruption is the main game for a lot of such politicians,they lie to us that they will improve our lives but in the end they always end up improving their life and those of their family.Nothing to be surprised wherever happens in Philippines,Western Balkans or even the United States as people are the same in all the world,greed is deep in our roots.

Yes it should be, but those politicians will not create nor pass a law regarding on prohibition on something like that since it benefits them towards the funds they needed on election days. What best thing to do about that situation is to see which of those politician is involve and don't vote them so that this activities will be stop, also vote for the right person who against this so that they can eliminate crimes and solve those pending cases which is related to this activities.

I think responsible people should run for leadership of country. Its not exactly about owning gambling businesses. Obviously I googled to know what this e-sabong thing is. It is cockfighting game which is really terrible for animals. I think the thing that should be outlawed is animal fights. Regular gambling does not hurt any living being. I would never trust such kind of guy, establishing very inhumane way of generation money through gambling, looking for political power through money he made etc. I hope he won't get voted we don't need that type of people around.

The government should have a law about this but knowing how corrupt our government system, I don't think any law pertaining to this one will be implemented because almost all of the owners of gambling platforms like jueteng or even cockfight arenas, were owned by politicians.

They run for government offices so as to protect their personal interest or they paid politicians to protect their businesses, sad truth that is happening in the Philippines.

This politician that you are talking about was paying the police or having control of the police in his town so we can't expect a lawful province if this politician is still in office but that event (killing of the governor) might be a blessing in disguise as he is now hunted by the government and i think he won't win in an election because of this incident.

It should be fine as long as it is legally operating in the country with complete papers. Why single out gambling by the way? We all know that many politicians enrich themselves in different ways and that includes though their personal investments. If you would prohibit politician businesses that related to gambling then why not just have a rule that they shouldn't own any business?

Online sabong or online cockfighting is already illegal in the Philippines IIRC but our country is probably one of the most corrupt in the world. So illegalities continue to run here when you have the power, money, and connections from various officials to cover and protect your illegal business.

Many of these dirty government officials won because they spent a lot of money on assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic where a lot of people suffered financially and had difficulty accessing food and other basic needs.

This is because the anti-dynasty law that was proposed is still pending in the senate of the Philippines, they don't want it ratified because if they do many of the political clans will lose control of the power they hold in their provinces and cities, buying votes and corruptions is very rampant in the Philippines that is why they need money and the easiest source is gambling.
Many politicians operate or support gambling platforms legal and illegal, it's hard to accept this but politicians can easily buy votes many voters are still not responsible voters.

Personally, I thing the government should impose a strict requirements for people who wants to run in the election— not only about gambling but on a lot of things... But to be honest, this isn't surprising at all since they will really do anything just to win the election. Of course, once you've got the position, you have access to the public fund. Election is like their investment, they'd do everything to acquire funds for the election and once they win, they can reimburse it through the people's money.

Obviously, gambling is a big source of funds for them. E-Sabong alone was a big thing already. A lot of people become addicted to it because it can easily be access by gamblers even without going outside. They will operate gambling even if it's illegal cause they know people are addicted to gambling and the more people gamble, the more money they can get. Also another thing, they are not afraid to operate illegally cause they are backed up by bigger politicians who protects them.

This shouldn't be a problem if a politician decided to create a Gambling for the sake of making more money which is not against the law in my own country. The problem is that many of these politicians are so how scared that having a well known company can make there opponents come for them and attack them in any form. I think having a gambling is a good innovation to create more jobs for the people to have something doing than taking the money to another country to make investment and create employment in that country. The politicians are also doing a great help to the people to have job employment.

When a country cannot implement the rule of the law this is what happens, I don't want to only put the Philippines in the spotlight but it's not only in this country but so many countries are like that, politicians are gambling operators, money launderers and operating so many illegal activities and even drug lords I don't want to mention names of the countries but this is exactly what's happening in third world countries, where only a few families lorded it over a whole nation.
This is what haunts third-world countries they cannot move forward because of corrupt politicians, there should be a law that prohibits politicians to operate or manage gambling platforms because they become corrupt officials.

I think it depends on the law on the eligibility of candidacy from the bottom to the top of your country's hierarchy. If what they are doing is legally valid in your country I think that's fine and it should work properly, but if you are worried about political activities that are morally unhealthy or have a bad impact on society, then you should have laws firm and explicit about this. Even though gambling is a tradition, in the Philippines, it will be seen as indirectly targeting the community, through gambling which is intended to fund elections.

Obviously it's inhumane because of the animals they fight. lol ;D
I quite understand and agree with what you are trying to convey in this matter, indeed gambling is not a natural thing to be held because it hurts animals that are used as tools for gambling, but the problem is that e-sabong gambling is a culture that must be maintained in the context of a caring country. civilization, with regards to the proceeds of gambling being used as funding for political activity I think it is legal if it is not prohibited and is not detrimental.

Sad truth is, no matter what rules are set, as long as money bypasses everything, they could still run a gambling platform even if their are involved with politics. They can use ghost employees to simply hide their identities and also continue the operation of that platform or site itself. That's just how money works which resembles and characterizes power, unfortunately to some countries. Even if they are caught on the act, they could use money to prolongue the trial process and eventually win the case. There are just many ways to do things as long as they have the drive to do so and ofcourse power to make it happen, both on a positive and negative manner.

It all depends on the existing law, but it should be held to prevent these politicians, I don't really want to know much about this problem maybe if in my country it is clearly prohibited besides cockfighting gambling is illegal in my country and there is already a law to criminalize anyone who are involved in gambling, we also do not close our eyes that many politicians and even government officials have income from gambling even in my country too, it's just that lately many officials have been caught red-handed for being involved in owning gambling sites.

I also thought why should involving animals in gambling that is clearly not very good, why not play in a better casino than letting animals fight to death like cockfights, that is very inhumane even as a gambler I criticize gambling like that

Let's point out what you said, "election candidates".

My question is, what if these candidates are not politicians before but decided to run in the election and already owned a franchise in gambling? Are they not qualified to run? The best thing to strongly implement is, once a candidate now becomes a government official and held a government office, they should let go of their gambling franchise as a public official.

Be used to it when it comes to the source of election funds, candidates especially those with lots of machinery will use their power to accumulate money from any means. Not just happening in the Philippines but also in other countries.

I do not subscribe to the idea of politicians or any highly placed government official to have a share or own a gambling company operating in their domain as it is possible to influence the rules of operations on how other gambling sites should operate only in the exception of his owned gambling platform leading to some kind of monopoly. Hence, gamblers are the ones that would bear the brunt as they would be susceptible to unfair games practices.

Involving animals like roosters and horses in betting has long been in the culture of humanity.
So there are indeed countries that are treating this type of gambling as legal and part of their culture.
However, with the involvement of politicians, it makes this gambling business more dirty in terms of operations.
They are willing to sacrifice the life of other people in order to serve their personal interest.
It is like no one should get on their way, otherwise, you will be disposed without bail. That's when this kind of business is going their worst path.

it's not new to our country where politicians are involved, some of them own a casino or a cockpit arena.

government is a big mafia in our country. Teves clashed with powerful gangs in the country that can link him to any crime including that 30+ sabongeros that were kidnapped and never been found. so in order for the authorities to have something to report, they made Teves the fall guy. Teves is not even the most bright politician, never been heard of on nationwide tv until one governor was murdered. but i think it's true that he operates esabong rivaling the big guys like Atong Ang.

Do you think that even if there is a rule about it that these sneaky corrupt politicians will not still find a way to be involved in this casino business without being in the front of it. Many politicians are not supposed to be involved in many illegal activities, but it has not stopped them. They have involved themselves indirectly and have managed to still ensure their profit somehow to enrich their pocket. The major thing for most of them is to do their thing and not get caught by the system.

There’s a lot of money in gambling, and you can’t expect anything from a corrupt government.
This is not a new practice anymore, we’ve seen this already and that congressman involves already on many issues including murder. Well, that e-sabong is still there operating illegally, many politicians are working with them silently, as long as there is big money for this you can expect them to be mote active here.

As long it isnt banned on a certain countries jurisdiction then everyone is free to engage with these kind of business and of course there's nothing wrong on what are their motives about on the revenue that they would be making. We know that as long it doesnt step on countries laws or does violate then it should be fine. If they do have that motive on accumulating profits for election funds then so be it and just let them be.
The wrong thing on here is on the time where killing is already get involved, it doesnt really sounds that good in any way no matter how mortal the enemy is. There's no right to kill someone
and its just sad that when politics do really been engage when it comes to connection then there's no said justice on specific situations which theres nothing we can do.

For a corrupt country like Philippines, even if e gambling is prohibited or banned then there would be still those illegal operations which it would be bypassed out considering that they could bribe of to those who do handle or who do impose such law. So its still pointless or useless when we are trying out to prohibit if they would really be having those connections and treatment which it is really
that totally unfair.

^That is the point, the reason why they wanted to sit that position is because of the power not wage on it.
The issue of politicians using their position to operate gambling platforms or engage in other illegal activities for personal gain is a serious concern, particularly in countries where elections are expensive and candidates may resort to unethical practices to secure their victory. Considering the implementation of a law or rule that would prohibit election candidates from owning or operating any form of gambling franchise, legal or otherwise, to prevent conflicts of interest and potential abuses of power. This would not only ensure fairness and integrity in the election process but also help to uphold the principles of good governance and accountability. It is important for politicians to remember that their duty is to serve the people and not to use their power for personal enrichment or to gain an unfair advantage in the political arena.

Isnt it yet banned?
According on what i have researched:

7 illegal e-sabong websites shut down; others under investigation (https://calabarzon.dilg.gov.ph/index.php/news-events/587-7-illegal-e-sabong-websites-shut-down-others-under-investigation)
PNP wants e-sabong tagged as illegal gambling act (https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1193885)

So just like on traditional casinos then there are so called legal or registered E-sabong sites? Ridiculous.
I did dig further and i found that they do really have  

eSabong is defined as the online/remote or off-site wagering/betting on live cockfighting matches, events, and/or activities streamed or broadcasted live from cockpit arena/s licensed or authorized by the Local Government Units having jurisdiction thereof.
Source:  https://www.pagcor.ph/regulatory/e-sabong.php

Politics is dirty, gambling is dirty. When these two joined forces, it becomes a dirty country.  :D But this is not new to the politics of the Philippines and is still happening now. We lack the government teeth to enforce real law and order and stop this kind of shitty thing to happen.
A seated official should not have a gambling business because he can use it for his own agenda. Just imagine how bad it will be if ever he wins the campaign. The gambling game will be like a legal thing to do at their place because every policeman can be paid thru the profits of the business. Worse, there's no tax or it is not a complete breakdown of how much he should be paying.
This will mean that the government is not making anything out of this business and they won't even know it. Let the businessman handle the business, the politicians handle the law, these two should be separated because every time there is money involved it gets dirty.

Regardless, will that law really be enforced?

Whether on what are those things where the election campaign funds came from, it's easy for these politicians to state in their respective ads that it was a paid campaign advertisement from their friends. Referring to how the PH election goes, it was the most scene that people see here.

Actually, here in PH, I'm sure the source of campaign funds doesn't really matter even though I believed there's a law for it. What the Commission of Election here is always strict about is the "Set Budget" that a candidate should spend in the whole entire campaign period and that also includes their exposure on TV ads etc.

Politicians should not be involved directly in any sort of gambling company.  First off, a politician shouldn't have enough time to be doing extra stuff like that outside of his job which is to serve the people.  Politicians get way too many freedoms when it comes to stuff like this. 

In the United States, when a president owns a company(s) they are supposed to pass the management duties on to someone else until they are out of office (whether this actually happens or not is debatable) and that should apply here in my opinion.

I think this is an issue that must be resolved by each country, based on their customs and not generalizing this in a global context.
Well, you see... there are countries where gambling is not even allowed, in others it is strictly regulated while others still have much more lenient legislation.

However, I believe that every country should rigorously monitor the money used in political campaigns and ensure that its origin is lawful, because if the problems of corruption and dishonesty begin right away in the electoral campaigns, it will certainly continue during the elected politician's term and it hurts the whole country.

But the set budget has not been followed by majority of the politicians since if they exceed they will just tell it that those money spent came from there campaign donors. This is really bad because there implemented set budget will not be followed so they need to set up some new standards so those greedy politician and businessman will not exploit this and their negative doings towards this gambling also with other stuff will be stop.

It would be policy complex to take multiple preferences based on the case. In the article it is stated that the politician did this before cockfighting gambling was banned (not yet categorized as a crime), of course at that time the risks were never thought of and who would run this business, and what would be the practice.

However, I agree that policy also reaches the casino industry team, bearing in mind that political activities often encourage politicians to do illegal things because of the need for large financial support.

If I'm not mistaken, there's a law which prohibits sitting elected government officials to get involved in gambling operations. As a matter of fact, there was probably an order even for ordinary government workers not to get involved in casino gambling. The point is that gambling is perceived, or is actually, dirty and it's better if government personnel avoid it altogether.

The case of Teves is clear, but not unique in the country. He is into legal and illegal gambling. In both cases, he is violating a law. But he can't just be apprehended because he is very rich and powerful and he obviously is more than willing to bribe, threaten, or even kill anybody who gets in the way.

This is cockfighting and what I do know is that this gambling had been
on the system from generation to generations , meaning from our grandfathers
this game is in existence  in which  even without the help of anyone this will operate as gamblers will find their way.

but this issue is different as we are talking in Online version that of course lets this kind of gambling easily to operate and also push people to live a life in miserable way as this has been written in news paper and in News everyday last year.

now with the abolishing ? some gamblers have their way out, so this government official must be questioned and also the government must have a law against this kind.

politicians are to help the country have a better living and not to let them dig their own grave .

As long as gambling is not illegal in that country, it is very difficult for the government of that country to make regulations prohibiting a politician from being involved in the gambling business and financing his campaign with gambling money because by not prohibiting gambling means that the country considers gambling not an activity that can be detrimental or wrong activity. But actually even though a country has clear regulations regarding gambling it is very possible for a politician to violate them because there is a system that protects them because political parties are also part of the government, not even just politicians but the security forces are also part of the protection because everything is about money to be obtained.

If gambling is legal then I do not see any problem with a politician engaging on the gambling business as long as they have all the permissions to operate legally and the games they offer are not manipulated in any way or form.

After all at that point a casino is like any other business which has to pay taxes, licenses, utilities and all what is needed to run it, and obviously if gambling is deemed illegal or a politician is using their influence to run it without the necessary licenses then that casino needs to close its doors and the politician needs to face the legal and social consequences of running a casino in this way.

The solution will be for all politicians to declare the donations or funding of their campaigns. This should be enforced and total transparency should be applied to make sure that things like this does not happen.

The problem is this... the politicians make the laws and they protect their own interests. So you should vote for politicians that can change the laws to protect the people. (This is not easy .... because most politicians are corrupt)  :P

I'm not sure if such legislation would be implemented effectively. Most politicians use dummy corporations to cover their ownership.
Many politicians also use the money they get from their illegal businesses to bribe the law enforcements, prosecutors and judges.
Corruption is really like a plaque. It infects the entire state and the society.
I remember that a politician in my country secretly owned an online sports betting platform and he used to make 100 million per year. I'm not sure that he still makes that amount. He wasn't very popular and he left the parliament years ago.

Personally I don't see a issue here as long as gambling is fully legalised and there are no advantages for politicians. As long as any person can open a casino and the gambling industry is regulated so that there are no scams it should be fine. A casino as a company as any other and shouldn't be penalised. It's like not allowing politicians to own a company that sells alcohol, tobacco or firearms. In case the politician uses his power to promote his business and limit the competition than of course it's wrong. I don't have anything against politicians owning companies, but there should be higher regulatory standards than for the average business owner. Maybe a special department that looks more closely on taxes, regulations and corporate governance for people in power could help to make people feel better about it.

Politicians have their hands in everything, nothing can happen without them. I guess in some developed countries there are some rules and regulations about "conflict of interest" in this matter, and maybe even more important those rules and regulations are applied. In my country, this is shady as it can be... gambling is on the up-trend, casinos are almost everywhere, and they are generating a lot of income. There are rules and regulations, but there are tricks on how to avoid them as well. It's especially easy with the help of corrupted institutions that stay blind to whatever happens.

I think this data will also be collected after the election but. The official handle this department will not create any actions towards that donation matters and this is what those corrupt politicians exploits since they know that if they put the money on donation side they will not be question on how much they spend during their campaigns. If our country is already in this situation where we can't do anything regarding on fixing this matters even if we complain then maybe its more better to use to revenge on election day and don't vote those politician which their name is involve on gambling and other illegal situations.

We have Gun ban law during election yet this politician has a private army carrying heavy fire arm that is illegally obtained so I doubt that this scammy politician will follow it or approved it in the congress because they all have self interest.

Actually most of the politicians has self interest. Manny Villar has a real estate business but him, his wife and son has a position on senate and DPWH respectively that is already conflict of interest yet people in authority turn a blind eye on this shit show. Creating a law that tailored for politician will not gonna work because they will be the one who will create it and they will not allow to approve such law that will be use against them. This is the sad reality.

I think the government needs rules to prohibit candidates from having franchises in gambling because they can get campaign funds from illegal activities easily. We will also never know whether his casino is really his business or will only be a place to collect their funds. So the government should make a law that does not allow candidates to own a gambling business, hold office in a company, and let the people vote for them. If the people like the candidate, they will vote for him because they already know the candidate's track record.

Legislation like this is usually not easy, but if it continues to be allowed it will be a bad thing to collect campaign funds from the proceeds of gambling places, even though maybe there it is something commonplace or legal, in my opinion this method is not good enough to be seen and emulated by the people there, let alone the people who have chosen to represent them to manage their government, obviously will not be good.

If the government is ruled by people like this, aka gambling owners, of course gambling will widen everywhere and of course it will be detrimental to the people of the country itself, as we know that being a gambler cannot always improve our existing economy if politicians are given the opportunity and he is a gambling owner, I'm sure it will have an impact on the country's economy later.

What is the relationship between the government that must make regulations or laws for politicians who nominate themselves if they have franchises in the gambling business and I do not see the mistakes of politicians who try to build a gambling business, especially in the past, the business is legal to run. In terms of ethics there may be a point in every leader must reflect good deeds to their people and each country is different in viewing gambling and prohibitions can be applied to the community, but political power sometimes gives their access to running a broader business there.

If I'm not mistaken now e-Sabong is illegal in the country and that means it has been prohibited to run. His mistakes do not lies in government relations with the selection of politicians who have to regulate business in gambling, but rather their financial sources that must be explored, whether there is a connection with crime or money laundering.

Politicians are the scum of the society. They will always put their interests above the interests of the local society. Thankfully we have cryptocurrency casinos which allow us to gamble at virtual platforms which have nothing to do with our local authorities. Therefore, you don't need to play at e-sabong platform, so you won't generate any profits and benefits for this politician and the people partnered with him.

Furthermore, don't waste your precious time thinking what politicians should or shouldn't do. They will do this anyway. The important is what you can do to stay away from them and from services and products they are involved with.

I'm guessing that there are already plenty of laws in place around these activities, I don't know the laws of the Philippines but you've called this game illegal. Beyond that, someone who is willing to murder people in the course of building their business empire are usually not the sort of people that care about laws anyway. Laws are only helpful if they are enforced equally and fairly, it's hard enough to get convictions in even the most advanced countries of these people in positions of power or who are able to afford expensive lawyers, but I can only imagine there is way more corruption in this country that means it's possible to buy your way out of anything by applying pressure in the right places.

Maybe we here have to first understand the election laws in each country, I'm sure every country has different rules, whether it's the wealth owned by the candidate or the campaign budget itself, the practice of gambling as far as I know involving high-ranking officials is classified as an open secret in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam etc., has become a major factor for those running for regional heads, the gambling industry is the mastermind behind the money for campaignselection.

Basically the money that is used by election candidates to buy votes in election campaigns, it is illegal, there is no data on the wealth of a candidate, even though there is data on wealth that is only in the form of physical assets such as land, houses, cars and bank deposits, so no matter what election law is enacted, if the candidate is using money from the gambling industry they are still using it. laws can be broken by them.

Usually illegal, money used by candidates in elections, uncovered from illegal results leveraged by losing opponents, if they know, but useless, those with a lot of money win despite lawsuits.

Except the gambling platform engage in any illegal activities I don't see any reason to make laws that will bar politicians from owning or sponsoring gambling platforms or casino. Gambling is not the only source of revenue for politicians because they venture into almost any kind of business to raise money for elections. Some politicians invest in gun running, drug peddling, human trafficking, and even prostitution to raise funds to win elections.

Politicians that engage in illegal gambling should be arrested and persecuted, while those that are clean should be allowed to operate their casino businesses. It will be ideal better to make laws that monitor the source of funds of politicians just to ensure that they are not proceeds for illegal business. The cost is contesting elections should also be reduced so that politicians will not be forced to engage in illegal activities.

Not only in gambling!

I believe that politicians should not be allowed to have any kind of income other than their pay from the government for their position. That pay should be transparent and fair.

They should not be allowed to have any other kind of pay, income or businesses or equities. If they are offered money, its in the human nature to accept it. Some may be more or less corrupt than others but its a danger nonetheless.  

Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those anti-capitalistic people who want a communistic government. I just think that people who have power should be restricted in their freedom of becoming corrupt.

Not only politicians. Think about how many jobs require a person to be non-corrupt. They should have more powerful restrictions. You would not want your doctor to do unnecessary surgery for the money, would you?

Either they get to be a powerful individual who decides over the lives and futures of their fellow people or they can be rich entrepreneurs who hold no power over the future of the people. They should not be allowed to be both.

 I've heard so many similar stories of politicians getting involved in casinos and not just getting involved but also owning and running some major casinos and I think there are rules that kicks against politicians and government officials from involving in trading and gambling because there are possibilities of them looting government funds and channeling it through their platforms.
I haven't know of the fore mentioned platform but one ring I've always know is that most of this politicians are always self centered and I will always place their personal interest above the interest of their subject and I will personally advice that peiole should stay clear if this very casino to avoid stories that touch.

These days we were able to see more business people getting converted into politicians. So, these kind of activities were common. Just take a look up the president's around the world and their backing. Everyone used to have some sort of business. Distribution of money to get votes were common and this is found all around the world. However it is the people's mind to accept and the same doesn't assure he have voted for the particular person. Very few used to be loyal to the person who paid him/her, majority just watch the right person and vote.

this is a subject that I had been talking about in the past, in the physical casinos of many countries the corrupt politicians who are from the party that governs the country are laundering money and taking the money to finance his election and to pay for the good life of them, so what has happened is that many political parties that are governing the countries own casinos, obviously they make it look like the casino has an owner who has no party connections but in fact the guy they put as the owner of the casino is a guy who takes orders from the political party, this has happened a lot in africa

and just see that in africa the african countries encouraged people to create casinos and hotels with the aim of maximizing tourism, but the physical casinos that are being created are us within luxury hotels, the hotel and the casino belong to great figures of the political party that governs the country and serve for money laundering, the corrupt political party are not concerned with the profitability of casinos and luxury hotels that they build, their objective is to use the casino and luxury hotel for money laundering, the obviously they ask for KYC for normal customers, but who will ask for KYC for the land-based casino owner? the government, the same corrupt government, so you can already see that KYC is only for ordinary customers in these physical casinos. this happens a lot in africa, i don't know how and in other continents

IMO, politicians should not be allowed to do business or businesses that have an element of gambling. because, it is very vulnerable to abuse, such as money laundering, for example. or, as you quoted in this thread. that the money they manage from e-sabong is used to fund campaign activities. it's just that, the problem is that in the link you shared what the politician was doing was not illegal. well, after recently, on the site said, the government started enacting rules and banning e-sabong and making it illegal.

Related to what you are discussing, the government in your country should prohibit politicians from getting involved in business related to the element of gambling, be it lottery, online casino, or whatever kind. cause, like I said from the start. if, politicians or we can say state officials who are involved in the business of gambling platforms. very vulnerable in relation to money laundering, funding something illegal or all kinds of things. if it remains, don't be surprised if the practices you mentioned in this thread will continue to exist and regenerate. to be honest, i am very concerned regardless of whether or not the link you shared in this thread is true or not.

a gambling platform (legal) it's a business like any other.
in other countries (example here in Italy) politicians (or their relatives) have shares or are part of the boards of directors of betting/casino sites.
it is obviously illegal to buy votes or other criminal activities linked, but I think the simple ownership of a business MUST be allowed without any limitation also because it would introduce a "dangerous precedent".
In practice we would go back to risk the oligarchy, in which only extremely wealthy people can afford to do this service for the community.

It depends on the government's attitude when it sees a problem with candidates owning a gambling business and using funds from that gambling business. But so far, that's what has happened in many places and the government also doesn't act decisively on it and it seems the government just ignores it.

If these regulations can be implemented properly, business owners who become candidates must be able to work for the people if people choose them and think about what is best for their people. So that they don't only think about accumulating wealth from their positions. I am worried that if the candidate is elected as a government person, the people will not get the welfare they promised during the campaign.

Not just in the Philippines, it happens in many countries. Almost all of those in the 3rd world countries are having these issues where politicians are involved in shady businesses. There is just nothing that can force politicians to comply with regulations or they may find ways to use someone's name to operate a shady business. In my country, the known drug dealers are the ones who lead the town. And people do nothing as they are powerful enough to kill radio critics in mid-day.

Everything depends on a country whether gambling is a prohibited activity there or not.
If gambling in that country has a legal business permit law and there are no restrictions, then what the politician is doing is not a crime because he is in business to get some money.
Naturally, if he decided to take fair play in the gambling business so he could raise money to win in an election because the gambling business is a business with huge profits.
So the conclusion is that whatever business is done by politicians who are candidates in elections, if there is no prohibition on their business, then it is not a crime or mistake and we can also see that there are lots of government figures who take a fair in the gambling business in the country.

In politically corrupt countries, there is nothing that can't be done especially if one has money, and politicians have a lot of that since there is corruption in almost everything that they have their hands in and they get their part from everything. That is the reason why there are basically no rules and regulations for politicians in such countries.

I'm not sure about how things work in developed countries but that is what happens in third-world or developing countries, and the reason why these countries don't become developed is basically the extreme level of corruption.

I think the government should have a core rule to play in all the business sections, matterless of whether it's the gambling or not.
 It only becomes chaotic when the are tryna infuse some partially robbed cash or impose a certain wage to be paid, with the threat that the defaulter gets impounded....but that ofcourse won't begin in a twinkle of an eye,.. it's a gradual process.
Again, that hasn't given them the right to bug too much into anyone's private affairs; on the other hand, you should Know that anything that's done glutly, ends up becoming a problem.... So I'll say, it's enough reasons for them to curtail, atleast...

Sandra 🧑‍🦰

I do think that the country must have specific laws prohibiting the engagement of any running candidate in gambling.

E-sabong has been an issue in the country as many people have illegally operated this business without any license from the government. In addition, a politician must lead an example to the public by showing that they do not flaunt any of their richness. Since Teves admitted that he engaged in such activity before the country prohibited it, then I guess he is safe from such act.

Remember that ex post facto laws cannot be implemented to make him liable for the acts he had done in the past in which no law prohibited it.

For countries like that, there needs to be more external pressure from other countries.
The world must always recognize and praise countries that have clean, democratic and corruption-free elections.
However, forced elections or elected with dirty money must always be repressed by other countries, imposing sanctions.
Unfortunately in the short term it is the population that will suffer the most, but with time these politicians will begin to realize that they need to be more honest in order to conquer their space in the world.

Gambling needs to be well regulated in all countries to serve as entertainment for the population and not to "feed" dishonest politicians.

What you say is true and they can also take advantage of the gambling industry to carry out money laundering so that the acts of corruption that they commit cannot be traced to the financial sources obtained.
Political players in government are criminals who are actually even more dangerous in a country and the average person in this kind of government will be protected and rarely be caught by the law.
So far, no country has been able to really control acts of corruption, except for countries that have very strict laws and even dare to take harsh penalties against any government criminals.
There is one country that has severe penalties for corruptors and with these penalties no one dares to commit corruption even if only in small amounts, namely North Korea.

It happened in many countries and is still happening today and maybe until the next election. But if there are rules that can govern everything, I don't think politicians or candidates will want to try to run for office because there are sanctions that will be given if they are caught. Even corrupt state officials can be re-elected because they have such a strong network that can make people vote for them again. And the people also can't do anything, but the candidates should think that if the people unite, they will have great power to overthrow those corrupt people.

That is true, even though it's an unethical act to buy votes in an election since the right way is that the general public chooses the candidate by their own choice and will and not because they are being paid, but that is what happens in third-world and underdeveloped countries since there is corruption in everything.

As far as owning a casino is concerned, it basically can't be prohibited a person who is also a politician shouldn't or can't own a casino if the business is illegal within the country. A politician can use the money earned from any source for his bad doings if he is evil, so it isn't only because of the casino.

It's not that the politician is influential but sabong on this country is so popular and I think that was the first online sabong game ever invented so Filipinos are dying for it. I heard that this was also the reason why it was banned because people are becoming an addict with it. They lose their money and destroy their lives/family.

After the ban, there are so many illegal e-sabong that came out because these illegal operators know that many people are still looking for it. Anyway, the first sentence that you said is correct. It's indeed fine as long as the business is legal but it is still wrong if the politicians are buying votes in order to win. They must only compete fairly. The public must not be greedy as well and grab the offer because this is the start of corruption. Many people are complaining about it but it was in fact their fault.

I think there is already a rule that prohits politicians or any government officials from getting involved in gambling and now reading through the OP, there is a murder case associated with the political aspirant and don't be surprised if he wins since anything can happen in politics and anyone with the highest money might even emerge as the winner wgeh there are other suitable aspirant as well.
I think the law should act very fast with their investigations and there isn't any law in that country restricting politicians from involving in gambling, then the law should be reviewed and amended so as not to encourage people from stealing government funds through that means.

There are legal and illegal gambling in the Philippines. It is not really prohibited to gamble as long as you are playing those gambling games that are permitted by the government to operate. Being involved in illegal gambling operations and even gambling participation have a specific punishment and fine whether you are an ordinary people or a government official.

Personally, I think it will be much better if there will be a certain law that will state that public officials are prohibited in participating in anything related with gambling. This is to protect the reputation and the view of the public officials from the citizens and at the same time so that there will be no bothersome comments and doubts about the fund or money being used for personal benefits.

If I am going to run as a candidate I think I will avoid gambling as a business because we all know many people are allergic to it and it gives me a bad impression from them so my chance to win will be lesser. There are still profitable business out there other than in gambling that I can try. Other than gambling many politicians are also involved in drug trading.

It's no surprise because there is also huge money to be made here but the only problem is that it is more illegal than in gambling and it gives a lot of negative impression too to the candidate. Many of them still continue because they are desperate to gather funds and win. They think they can still hide their wrong doings in the public but there is a big chance that it will be discovered later on like what happened to others.

I'm not surprised though, don't get me wrong, my Philippine politics is full of corrupt policeman, congressman, mayor and governors. And e-sabong if I'm not wrong is still very strong in the country, despite the government trying to banned it.

And there are a lot of killings as well, with police involvement and even the Senator had to have a hearing about what is going on behind and who might be the politicians protecting e-sabong. So with the admittance of Teves, which by the way is suspected to be the mastermind of eliminating the governor of his province for whatever reasons, I think there could be more in the government who is the protector not just of e-sabong, but illegal gamblings in the country.

North Korea should not be counted in this in my opinion since that isn't a democratic country based on what has been the rules for so many years and how the government actually is, but other countries, mostly third-world countries suffer more from corruption since there is basically not much law imposing authorities since there is corruption in every sector.

The corrupt politicians use every source they can to carry out their evil and illegal activities not to hide them from the authorities but to hide them from the general public, the authorities work under them so they don't fear them at all.

This has happened everywhere where there is the involvement of the police and other government officials who are behind the gambling business and provide protection to business owners. And some even act as owners and pay a certain amount of money to officials or government persons so that their businesses can continue to run safely. And even though a law will be passed to control that, I don't think that will stop them from being re-elected as people who work in government because they can easily turn the situation in their favor. This is very difficult to eradicate because the number of corrupt officials is not known with certainty, making it difficult for honest officers to work.

Wait, wasn't Sabong already deemed illegal in the philipphines a few month (or year) back? Or maybe that was just a recommendation of sorts and my dumbass just misread it or something.


Hmm, I guess it depends on the stance of that country with regard to gambling? I mean personally to me it's completely fine, it's his money that he used to build a business (hopefully) after all. If the country that they were going to set their business in frowns upon gambling, then yea absolutely. I mean, can't exactly expect their citizens to follow when they themselves are doing stuff against the laws that they set.

But well, we all know how it just goes back to who holds more power, regardless of laws and stance and whatnot in the end.

Even though buying people's votes in elections is an unethical act, this method is no longer a secret and many countries with politicians do it in order to be elected in elections.
Vote buying has become a culture in several countries that have a democratic system.

But if indeed the casino business is banned, there will still be a number of casinos still running because of the bribery of government people so that their casino business can still run.
Politicians who take a fair share in the gambling business can work behind the scenes so that no one knows that a politician is involved in the gambling industry.
Yes, and it's true what you said, when politicians want to do bad things to get some money, can be sure they have other sources of funding too.

I'm unsure of the political situation in the Philippines but in general I wouldn't trust any governmental involvement in the gambling system.  They know how to use every legal loophole to get the advantage.  As it stands the house has the odds if ypu add political power over those odds only increase.  I'd steer clear of that platform.

That is why other countries have strict laws about who should be the owners of casinos whether it's offline or online in a corrupt country politicians can use their political power to advance their casino platform, its unfair competition if you have politicians as owners as they can bribe the regulators because of his connection.
Filipinos have a love for cock fighting which is why it easily become very popular but because of its controversy, the government stopped its operations.

I am a person who believes that politicians should focus their career in their local politics so they can help to improve society, that being said, a politician should not be allowed to own a casino, neither to accept donations from corporations or invest in the stock market while engaged in the government as a public servant.

Those things only encourage corruption and trafficking of influences. If they want to become politician they must be ready to life off their salary, paid by the people of the country.

Politics will always be a part of gambling, there’s a big money for this market and getting to involve on this will make them more rich.

Gambling is not illegal though in our country but I think those politicians should focus more on their work as politicians instead of spending time in gambling as they are not allowed to play though. Corruption is still a big problem, that’s why many are still not satisfied with our government.

For a corrupt country and does have its corrupt government then it would be no surprise that there would be illegal things which would really be operating under the radar on which these places or owners itself would really be that confident on running one just because they do really know that they are really that been protected or does really have the confidence just because if ever they would get caught or being reported,
they could simply just go and would be released out just because there's someone whose been protecting above which it would be no surprise on this way. This is really indeed very common if we do
really tend to see on how these things been going.

You could really expect that bribery would be that rampant into these kind of government on which it is really just that sad on how things do end up. Somewhat if you are a citizen who do loves to
play, then why would really be tending to stick up into these places which arent really that legal after all?

This is common all around, because politicians are not for the people. Nowadays they're for the corporate and for money making. In my country during covid-19 people were unable to move out of the house. This made more people get into gambling and more platforms came into usage during those days. The impact that got created during those days caused more suicides. This continued and there were protests against the ruling party, but the politicians were in talks with the gambling platforms and never agreed for ban. The government should support the people as well as educate them than just standing in favour of the corporate.

As long as the gambling platforms are legal, I don’t think the government itself will have to control on whom who can get the franchise or those who are not allowed to get the franchise. It will be another source of income for the government so they will never mind it. Well, talking about politicians, they are just regular people that aim to make profits from any legal businesses, so if they have the means to invest in it, then I think the government will not deprived them of their rights. Everything in business is fair, but it’s only the house who stays on edge.

I believe there should be a rule that any aspiring politician must not own any gambling platform.  I believe in the Philippines, government official and employees are not allowed to enter or play in gambling casinos. 

 

Even PAGCOR impose stricter penalties against government officials and employees who play in the casinos in the country.  The said action is issuant to Presidential Decree no. 1869 (otherwise known as the PAGCOR Charter) and Memorandum Circular No. 6 s. 2016 (which list persons not allowed to play in gaming establishments around the country).  PAGCOR carries such provision in its Responsible Gaming (RG) Code of Practice (CoP).  The CoP aims to minimize the potential harm of gambling among players and the community, prevent gambling addiction and prohibit underage gambling.

So I think that the government must implement a law disqualifying any aspiring politician to candidate having a seat in the government officeif they are found having a gambling platform.

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source: https://www.pagcor.ph/press-releases/pagcor-pnp-to-sanction-government-workers-who-gamble-in-casinos.php

in my country even though gambling is illegal, there are also reports that many officials have gambling businesses but are operated in countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia

After all, gambling has a large market share, so it's no wonder that many politicians have side businesses such as casinos or nightclubs

But it should not be open to the public, if I'm a politician I would not think of openly admitting I'm running one because it will ruin my credibility as a public servant, especially for new politicians, and there's always a perception that politicians will use their political power to advance or cover up any misbehavior of their platform, like if there are complaints on their platform, they will bribe investigators and prosecutors because, in the first place, the politicians like senators are the ones who allocate funding on different government agencies.

Yes, every country has its own regulations, in my country, of course, it's prohibited, but some Asian countries may be free, so there are several countries where they have income from gambling into the state treasury, so there are no restrictions on politicians or officials involved in gambling, especially casinos during that time. Everything back to the regulations every country is not all the same.

Gambling really does provide a large income for the country through taxes and others, but in my country it is strictly prohibited for officials and politicians who are involved with gambling they will be arrested and punished, that is why nothing is publicly open if there are politicians involved in it in gambling.

Many politicians are directly or indirectly involved in gambling, they even gamble and own gambling company but in disguise not openly in other not to allow their rivals to use it against them in election campaign, most of them own a gambling company but not with their name, it is important to note that most gambling companies we see today is being own by politicians, as we all know gambling Business make much money and politicians will always love to invest in such company that will enable them to generate more funds for themselves through that means, but this depends on the strict laws guilding a particular country because in most countries it is prohibited at such if found guilty strict sanctions and penalties will be invoked.

This is just another evidence that we live a good world that's been messed up by wicked and desperate politicians, why should  a politician be allowed to operate a gambling casino, if not for the fact that we live in an insane society?
Anyways, one thing I know for sure is that, there is a prize somewhere waiting for us, for whatever we do in this earth, if this man operate a gambling casino, for the sole purpose of funding his political career, I can just but imagine how many gamblers he must have cheated off their hard earned money, so that he could amass more money for himself and family, stealing from the same people you plan to lead is not just cool at all.

Politicians are aware that their is more profit in gambling business this has given somany them the courage to own such Business in disguise in other to raise more funds either for personal use or campaign bill offset, this desperate politicians even gamble directly.

Just like on some countries where they do have that state lottery on which they've been using some part of it on charitable acts or deeds which is something that would really be that commendable.
This is the way on where they could get at least some part which it would be applied into these acts which i do see not to be bad at all. Its true that each country does have their own
rules and regulations when it comes to gambling. If ever they would really be banning out gambling then of course people or gamblers of that certain place would really be going into places which
even if they do know that it is illegal or not licensed or been allowed by the government, but for the sake of addiction and leisure hunting then for sure they would be playing
out of these places. The worst? which in corrupted countries where government officials are the ones who do really ran off these places which it is really
that indeed happening not only just in movies.  :D

Yes, but what I'm saying is that the Philippines at least have been known to say that it has been the practice of some politicians to be the gambling protector. Even the bust on the biggest drugs right now is very controversial, Congressman grilling ever top cop that is involved on it and seems to be that there is a cover-up as well. Not saying that the countries is very bad, but if those who have been voted by the people like Teves who are accused as the mastermind of the murder of his political enemies and now out of the country because he doesn't want to be prosecuted, then something is wrong with the justice system there.

I really feel bad for all the people that were killed because of greed for money and power.

I thought politicians are not allowed to own, play, or stay in a casino. I mean I remember reading this from an article in the past, I'm just not sure which news site released it.

any news about this? anyway, politicians that have been proven to own illegal operating lotteries should be arrested.

You would really expect that there would be those people who would really be committing up some crimes on secret or in silent just because they do know that if ever they would get caught, there's

someone that who could help out incase things gets worst. You do have the money or power and you do have that influence then of course you would really be that confident on doing things on what you can do.It is really just that sad that there are really indeed places or corners of the world where countries justice system is really that fucked up on which only to those who do have the money
and the influence could really be able to have that exemption but of course not all. This would be most likely on third world countries.

Platforms that had been operated by some officials despite of the ban or restriction then it is really just that in fact or reality. They could really make out operation
since they do know that they could continue without any issues raised as long it would be covered up.

Politicians have the wealth and power to shut up the justice system.  Although there are several good politicians it looks like these good politician is keeping their mouth shut to avoid any misunderstanding with their colleague.  It is really disappointing to see these corrupt officials and upcoming officials exploit the system.


One way or another their corrupt mean will end.  It just needs one courageous leader to oust them and penalized these corrupt officials for their wrong doings.


They are not supposed to, they are even ban from entering any casinos or participate in any gambling but well, money and power can twist or make the blind justice system mute.


There was a case way back 2013 in the Philippines where politicians were arrested due to illegal gambling[1] but was dropped by the Department of Justice[2]. 

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[1] https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/metro-manila/02/16/13/vice-mayor-isko-arrested-manila
[2] https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/588057/doj-drops-illegal-gambling-charge-vs-isko-moreno-others

Wherever there's a source of money, you will find politicians supporting it whether it's legal or illegal. That's why you always find countries that are democracies often have these kinds of problems because those crooks and thieves and also criminals are allowed to vote, therefore they will vote for the ones that are like them and the result is the country will fall and there will be no improvement. You don't see such problems in a monarchy because they have total control and can shutdown automatically it something like that would happen of course there are exceptions but in reality, this is caused by t he democracy and lack of will and power by the president of the country. 

I don't see anything wrong with people in politics or occupying public offices not having the  investment opportunities as the rest of the citizens. So long as they wouldn't be doing this with public funds and they stick to fair plus in offering gambling services.

For what is worth, this would be one means by which, politicians can abstain from corrupt practices as, there exercises would be accounted for by there investment. Also, there wouldnt be exvluded from payment of taxes and add a little to the treasury and would create jobs for some members of the bublic.

"the charges were dismissed because of all vague allegations" Wow, that is such bullshit and clear evidence of corruption, how are they supposed to uphold their oath when they became a judge when they pull stuff like this. it's also why I never really trust the government.

anyway, the quote author is wrong on the last part of your post, it should be my name there instead of aioc.

In my country, financing elections is subject to strict conditions, and you may lose your right to run and end your political career if the campaign is funded from illegal sources or attempts to buy or influence votes. Democracy does not come by buying votes, or whoever collects more money in his electoral campaign is the one who achieves victory, but rather in the nature of projects, services and ideas that he will present.

Gambling is the easiest way to raise money for those who run it. If it is the main source of these election campaigns, it is better to ban it.

The problem with politicians not just in your country but probably all over the world is that they're mostly hypocrites. They are masters in sweet talks and lying in front of the public. Behind them however, they are all after money and power.

I wouldn't be surprised if a politician is found out to be a criminal also. That's very normal. That's not even news anymore. What's surprising is when they are fairly and objectively prosecuted and eventually sent to jail. That seldom happens.

It would be unfair to try to restrict public servants from business opportunities that are completely legal on the country in which they are living.

However we must recognize that those that are at the very top of the hierarchy could exercise a great advantage over other traders and investors, as they could have access to privileged information and they could trade the markets knowing in advance what is going to happen, an advantage so great that anyone that has it cannot help to make a huge fortune even if they were not trying that hard to become successful.

In general, if it's a legitimate business I wouldn't see a problem with it, but if you're talking about murder and illegal lotteries, well, I don't. The problem is not so much using a legitimate business to finance your campaign, but rather the opposite, that what they are doing to finance their campaigns is illegal, and it happens to be related to gambling as it could be related to another sector.

I don't know if you realise your contradiction. If they are breaking the law, a new law is not going to do any good, because they are going to break it anyway.


Here we are again with the same thing. It is not so much the gambling that is the problem as the illegal behaviour of politicians. This does not happen in Europe (there is gambling and there are politicians who engage in behaviour that is questionable to say the least, but nowhere near what you are describing).
. 

I think I agree with this argument. One of side effects of democracy. Power is distributed so crooks are very interested in it. I am sure there is huge money rings between businessmen, politicians and many other high profile figure. When gambling is legal in such countries it's obvious there will be so called political figure interested in. Some claim that they support or incentivize it but mainly everyone knows shady things going on. In monarchy leader could be just uninterested because family is already rich.

The point you make is logical but our current system is still better, as in the case of a monarchy you depend exclusively on the capabilities of one person, if that person is competent then the country will do well and thrive, and we have many examples of this through history.

However if the leader is incompetent then the country could fall into ruin and even disappear, so a republic seems like a better choice on average, even if there are a few instances in which a monarchy may seem like a better option.

Yes and this kind of thing also happens in the country where I live where politicians as well as government officials protect some illegal activities which can generate huge amounts of money.
In the country where I live, gambling is strictly prohibited and already has laws against gambling, but there are still many local online casinos operating, even new online casinos have sprung up because there are indeed several state officials who protect them so they can get very.
Things like this shouldn't happen, but because they act on behalf of the government, nothing can prevent it, not even the president can handle something like this because it can make members of the government become enemies and bring down each other which also affects the government system.

Politics, cash – an explosive mix, folks! Like letting a kid loose in a candy shop, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Big league. But really, it's pathetic that politicians are traded like potatoes. Democracies, monarchies – all in the same boat. Absolute power, absolute danger.

And the regular Joes caught in the chaos? Just craving some blackjack or roulette spins, yet tangled in legal nightmares. Unfair, folks. Why should they pay for rotten politicians and bureaucrats?

Casino owners are doing tremendous work for some countries and many people don't know it.

there are many politicians in my country that are into the gambling business and they have been running the casino for a long time now, the casinos are now family businesses.

I don't think that the law will go against this person that OP is talking about because one way or the other casinos are benefiting the government in every countries, that is what I heard from someone who knows some casino owners.

Several things are not being told to us by the government, and I don't expect them to do so. In my opinion, they are making sure every casino is up so that they can earn money.

I don't think so, in fact, in the article mentioned by OP the President stopped the operation of cock fighting, it's a weak president if he cannot stop gambling he has all the power bestowed upon him by the constitution, that kind of president do not have a political will if a President says so it will happen when he says all forms of gambling is illegal, everybody will listen because he has a police power and he can charge any politicians or businessman that will disobey his order.

This is true. Every government used to profit from the gambling house. Even if the government ban gambling people will continue to use it through some means. In my state lottery is banned, yet the lottery business is seen around taking place illegally.

In my state more than 40 people have died in the last three years due to gambling. Government took necessary action and at some point opposing party were against the ban and requested to meet the casino owners and make talks. Finally this happened and at some point the ruling party stood strong and banned it.  At times even the governments can't take action. Better choice is to create awareness on gambling.

I don't think the money gotten from a casino could be enough for using in a political career except if bhe casino had been long in existence before now, politics required a lot of money to be pumped into it in a continuous maner and i don't think casinos retains huge amount of money consistently like that, though am not saying it's not possible but the chaces are low to achieve this as said by OP.


Politics is full of dirty games but shouldn't be a yardstick for us to join the bad clique in doing the illicit acts all in the name of politics or gambling.


Government need to monitor their income flow, assets and know their sources of incomes before appointing them into political office, gambling is not a harbor for political miscreants and looters of government funds, either owing a lottery or casino is not all that matters than dealing with right political mindset individuals that could be trusted.

You would really expect that illegal things would really be around if ever there are restrictions or banning not only on gambling industry but also into other industries on which there would really be people who would really

be tending to do those things even if they are really that prohibited which is something not really that shocking.In speaking about government-backed casinos or gambling places then it would neither be disclosed into the public or not but most of the time it would really be hidden up considering that people would always be having that bad impression and would be having those negative thoughts that this might really be involving some possible corruption which we know that we cant really blame out people not to think up this way.

Some people had already mentioned about state lotteries which is really that common but for known government back or supported companies then it is something which is really that hidden.
I dont see any problem though as long those taxes would really be fair and square when it comes to this manner.

Politics is not gambling, if a politician want to get population or voters with gambling I think that people that may follow the politicians don't know their what, so I believe that for politics people get votes during election for some things they have already done or their reputation base on the what the person brought to the masses

I guess if politicians will also be prohibited from owning businesses aside from gambling, isn’t it too unfair and hard on their part? Probably, there will be no politicians to run again in the election if that’s the case. My own take on this is that as long as those politicians are owning not illegal businesses, then they have all the right to continue their business operations and even expand it if they wish to. And I don’t think the government would adopt this kind of law as most of the highly elected government officials are already owning some businesses before they take part on politics.

IMO, a politician or who has a strategic position in a government. strictly prohibited, engaging in a business engaged in the casino industry. plus, the state must make a law that prohibits that casino owners must be outside the government. or the state itself manages, but not for personal owners. this aims to prevent money laundering, illegal campaign funds for elections, or all kinds that are contrary to state affairs.

If what you say is true, I don't want to assume too far. however, it is clearly implied, that businesses run by politicians in your country are not running well. I mean, there's probably a lot of irregularities going on. anyway, besides money laundering, it could also be tax evasion. I'm just assuming, don't mean to accuse. Moreover, as you said, the casino business in your country is a family business. things like this, very vulnerable to something that smells illegal. yes, as OP told in this thread.

Basically, everyone is just after money, friends, because in a democracy, things cannot run smoothly if there is no incoming cash flow.
A political candidate to be able to enter and be registered with a party or election also requires money, so this is not a trade, it's just a bad or dirty democratic system.
With many actions like this, people will get used to voting for politicians if they are given a certain amount of money in return.

Whether it's fair or not, we can't just judge it because the regulations made by each country's government are different, friend.

Politicians can own a gambling business to get funds used for campaigns. And it's from the money from the illegal gambling business that they can pay people to vote for them, and that has been the case for a long time in many places. They think that money can buy people's votes and by making sweet promises to them that they will provide welfare for the people in the future. But once elected, they won't give it away and instead focus on growing their business to earn more money while in office.

It's an obvious thing, they (the government) get very large amounts of money as income tax from both casinos and the gamblers and that is the reason why they let them operate if the business is lawfully allowed to operate within a country, and I don't see any reason why a government will not allow a politician to have or run a gambling business if it's legal.

The government will not tell us everything but we know what they do and what they don't, we even know the motives behind every move they make which they might try to cover up with a follow-up event only to divert the attention of the public.

Don't you know that government is a big beneficiary in gambling? Did you also know that election candidates are not just involved in gambling but in other forms illegal businesses such as drug trade, sex trafficking, poaching in order to fund their election campaigns?

What the government of nations should do is to properly scrutinize those who are vying for offices. They should do a proper background check on their business, their source of income, their travel history, their friends and associates before granting them any approval to run for office.

If the casino is legal and has a connection with the government, yes. There is no need for the government to ban them because they are benefiting from it. In my country, there are so many illegal lotteries here and they have been taken down one by one but I never hear that people are dying because of it, but for other games maybe? as they are more fun and addicting.

The death rates in your country is still small so government should be alarmed. It wasn't also the fault of gambling but they still can put warnings about the hazards that gambling might cause to a person. We regular individuals can also help spread the word because we also have families and friends. This is better before its too late but monitoring must still be there.

This is very common in the Philippines. The reason why the said country is filled with corrupt officials is that they are doing vote buying during the election period and the sad part is, people always allow them to win because of money. They take advantage of the poor people and buy their votes instead of sincerely asking for their support.
Many politicians are involved in the gambling industry because it's a source of huge funds. E-sabong has stopped operating because of the criminal activities that happened in the past year involving it. Politics is filled with corrupt people and they are willing to use their assets to get votes but would also use their power to generate profit as well.

It is illegal by law for a government official to own a gambling business or to gamble in any gambling places. But it doesn't stop that, they can point someone say from family to manage that gambling business instead of them to by pass the law as easy as that
Also, as long as e-sabong or any gambling is considered as a legal business, and no lawmakers amend that law nothing will happened.

No, it's not allowed and its illegal, but they can easily bypass it.

We know that every government actions cant really be that exposed nor really need to inform the public but if the funds been used on building up such business do came from peoples money or simply on the tax.
Then we do really have the right know and it is really just that a crap thing if ever they would really be deciding to hide it out. If ever there's a ban about gambling business whether online or physical then it would be understandable that there would be places which would be illegally be operating which neither those things could neither be supported by the government or not. If we do speak about on countries
which are really that having that extreme corruption then it wont really be that so shocking that they might be included into those places who had been funding and building up
those illegal places just for the own benefit.

That is a common practice by politicians to "cheat" the law and the expected moral behavior by the society. Most sophisticated schemes don't even involve a family member, but a partner, maybe a lobbyist, who works as middleman on the process which will eventually benefit the politician after all. By the law, there are no flaws, although informally we know exactly how the scheme works... As you said, nothing will happen! :P

Agree, and most countries have bad politicians like that.
My country is a country that prohibits gambling activities, but many politicians and law enforcers who have their power take a fair share in the gambling business as investors and backers to ensure their safety in order to get large amounts of money.
It is natural that many people in power take advantage of illegal practices for their personal gain.
And it's strange that no one dares to reveal and dispute this kind of case to the point of law in several countries, including the country where I live.

There is no doubt that politicians could be a gambler or be using casinos to launder money as it is in many other businesses including banks. But it doesn't sound well that politicians are behind the development of gambling, that's just nonsense to me. The casino is an establishment, anyone can open it and anyone can run or patronise it, so it should not be tagged as if it thrives due to politicians.

It's even difficult these days in some countries to launder money through casinos since the beam of the government is strongly on them. I believe that people venture mostly into casinos due to the less stress and management in it and the high profits that could be wired in favour of the house, not because of some selected class.

Personally, I have no qualms if a candidate got his funds from gambling, it’s really costly to run for candidacy, let alone in one of the scummiest place too (government-wise). I’ll have a problem however, if the candidacy entails using funds gained from corruption and stealing, coz then it would mean that the funds arwn’t gained from legal means yeah? It’s also the same story with what rhey will do with the funds. Vote buying, actively bribing election personnel to hack the system and give them an unfair advantage against their opponents, among other negative things are just abhorrent and are inexcusable in my book.

As for this guy, further investigation may be required to see if has to be incarcerated or something.

but what has happened so far? do the majority of elected politicians where you live have a dirty business? if so then the problem lies with your voters, why do voters choose dirty politicians to serve in government?

every state official must have a clean history and that is true but the power of money is in every election, the casino business has a fast cash cycle and it is liked by many people, especially officials who always need money for campaign funds

Government officials are strictly not allowed to gamble, so owning a gambling business is strictly prohibited. However, I believe it’s true that they can simply put someone into it to manage the business but still the real owner is the politician itself and all the profits should still go to him. This is a common strategy for all politicians owning a gambling business, since they are expected to uphold the laws and become role models to the citizens.

In my country politicians or government officials can easily step in and control everything behind the scenes. Recently there was a case that shocked the public because of the involvement of a police chief who turned out to be the brains behind online gambling casinos. The reason is that it started with the murder case that he committed, which opened up all the successive disgrace, problem after problem, which began to be uncovered, which linked him as an insider in controlling various online gambling sites based on the findings of evidence files and data taken by the investigators.

So it's not the least that this is against the rules of government officials. But I think it's back to the individual, not to focus on the rules. They are free to control anything because access to achieve it is made easier and they take advantage of the situation to fulfill their personal interests. Politicians are still politicians who can never be trusted.

Why rule out people for what they wish to have simply because of their positions in government, I don't blame people when they have negativity towards the politicians because I think they are just common people like us that are called to the office to serve the people and they have a payroll but their greed with exposure to wealth result to stealing and that is why people always see them as dirty and corrupt group, only a few of them are sometimes excluded as a clean person. The gambling business is a lucrative government and everyone should be allowed to participate so far they pay their taxes to the government and they don't involve themself in money laundry, there shouldn't be a law that could limit people from any investment.

It should be that no politician should get involved with gambling be it as a gambler or as an operator or businessman that focuses on it. That goes against the rule of law that they're lawmakers and they can make laws favoring their business which is all about gambling that can give them even incentives instead of punishments. This should go with their principles and while there's really a big tax that comes from the gambling industry, let it be alone managed by those that have no political interest.

I think other governments can't avoid that situation because of political costs, So what they can do is watch closely the money transactions. And I think, the Senate also can't make the rule suddenly to avoid that because that is the fast way to cover the political costs, so maybe that method just not done by 1 person, but by the community which is most likely used too by government officials, senate and political parties. If want to be fair, make a rule to legal it all gambling, and all money from gambling can be used for campaigns

Well we all know that we've  got ot of underdogs in the industry who are  constantly  cheating the common man and I've heard several news about politicians and government officials getting involved in gambling  mostly in Asian countries and at some point, I've always known Asians as one of the greater number of tye population who embraces gambling.
Whatever thencade might be, we all want to make profits but I'm sure of the major reason why I don't want or agree that politicians shouldn't get involved  in gambling so as not to bet any attempt to wanting to loot national  funds through casinos and you'll agree with me that if they own the casino, it will be more easier tooot money through their platforms.

The government should have imposed strict regulations on candidates who will advance in elections to prevent these individuals from being able to occupy parliamentary/leadership seats which will pave the way for them to operate their gambling or other dirty businesses. What's more, I know that cockfighting is not very good, where cocks are forced to fight and some even die. This is not justified and everyone involved in it should be jailed and blacklisted from elections.

I mostly agree on your post. But if we want to have a free and fair society where all people have the same rights, then it would not be fair for politicians to be forbidden to gamble.

I am okey with them doing whatever they want with their own money that they have earned through their job as politicians, however, they should be closely audited and in case some of them show any signal of becoming a person with addiction for gambling they should be isolated from the public treasury immediately and their political power, so they would not be able to abuse it to get more money to gamble.


Gambling is a question of civil liberties, in my humble opinion. 

I agree about auditing them but being a public servant, there will be critics that will be all eyes on them and that's why if they're already in the public post, they should halt or at least don't get involved with anything related to gambling even if it's their livelihood.
But in developing countries, we'll see politicians like them to just sworn that they'll avoid gambling and stop their business or won't get a touch of it. And, they're all just words and talk is cheap. Nothing wrong if they're done being a public servant but while they're still on their duty, it should be avoided by them.

That is the keyword there "public" servant, so everything you do, all eyes is going to be on you, so whether positive or negative, there are ways that your enemies can destroy you like if they found out that you are one of the operators or behind the development of gambling platform and very instrumental on the proliferation of it. So for me, if you are elected by the public, it's better to stay away from that kind of perception, just do your job as a public servant and not involved yourself in gambling, IMHO.

I agree, but if they are already audited and no anomaly has seen, they are clean and don't have bad thing with regards to their taxes I think there's no problem at that I just needed to be sure that the person who will make an audit to them is proven fair and doesn't have any past accusations as well there are many people in our government who has a hidden wealth in gambling that's one of the problem in our government.

unfortunately things are not that simple, what has happened is the following:

Party Z politician creates a casino. his party governs the country, he does not pay taxes and does not declare all his assets as required by law in many countries, so he launders money and shares the profits with some members of the government and his political party, when some police decide to investigate the casino, he soon talks to the president of the country and the minister of security and they fire the policeman on the same day, the courts are blind and dumb, they pretend that they are not seeing anything, most of the party members his politician play in his casino

this is part of the scheme to make it appear that his casino has many customers and the money he has comes from the casino's profit, when in fact the casino has the objective of laundering the money from corruption and drug sales, when some newspaper suspects of something and publishes these suspicions, the owner of the casino hires an auditing company that is linked to a member of his political party, sometimes they even accept companies outside the country, but when the foreign auditing company arrives in the country, they offer high bribes and the auditing company presents a report that says the casino is clean, fair and has no involvement with corruption and drugs and everyone outside the country believes it and that's it, matter closed

That is the dilemma in the situation, we don't know how the people involve will be honest about their jobs.
Because if you are in a corrupt country, those who will audit can be bribe and report only what they want to see by the public.
They will resort to the under the table practice because they want to earn money also for themselves.
As much as possible, politicians should not dip their hands on gambling. Just to eradicate the thought of fraudulent transactions happening during their term.
Some of them have ulterior motives why they go in politics and at the same time in gambling, to protect their personal interests.

They are in public service so officials and even just government employees are expected to observe highest ethical work standards, it's on every government policy and laws. If they want to held on their hobby or these kind of things then better off on that position.
But since we are living on such corrupt and unfair world, laws and policies are only applicable on civilians and other lower class. Powerful people, government officials are exempted on this except if justice is served properly.

Unfortunately, politicians in the Philippines can own a lot of businesses as much as they can, even if it means gambling businesses provided that they are legal and approved by the law. And no one could stop these politicians if they will use their profits from gambling to finance their campaign because in the first place, those businesses are theirs and not owned by other people. Furthermore, vote buying is not new anymore, but I always think it’s not the fault of the politicians alone if they win and make corruption later on, people should also be more responsible where to give their votes not because they are bought but because they believed that those politicians deserved to win because of their good reputation.

This absolutely tells us people that despite money rules and laws implemented by the authority, it can't be perfectly serves to everyone or fair to all, some leaders we're still able to twist it. This is not new, many of the illegalities happen the country is ruled by these big leaders, who dare to stop them? Not the implementing bodies but just their competitors and they are killing each other.

I can say that there is no way to stop them. They use their position and make use of it as their power to take advantage of others that is why even if it was illegal, it is still operating because nobody will be able to stop it and nobody is willing to sacrifice their lives.

In corrupt countries or places, this is just like a normal business of a politician and not just that but many more.

That had made them popular to be in the public office and helped them take that spot because of their influence, power and mostly money. Even if there will be activitists that would say that it shouldn't be done by a public official.

You can't stop them if they're the ones in power and they're the ones who control things on those areas of their power. But in first world and developed countries, I guess there's nothing like this or if there are cases like this, they're only few cmiiw.

When there is a high rate of poverty among the public/citizens or becomes hard for them to have a choice to make in whgovernsrn the affairs of the state,  and even though the power to elect a new leader is left to the citizens to vote in the leader,  high rate of corruption will not allow for true and fair elections.

And since most of the politicians are ready to spend a lot of money just to buy the votes from the improvised voters it then becomes easy for the politicians with the big bag holders to always win the elections and this has become a normal practice all over the world.

And back to whether the politicians own the gambling site/business, there is no gain in saying that we don't know the many escapism that has been played on several occasions that point to this fact also unless for the few of other casinos whose owners may be out of government to do such things.

Article states this was some sort of online "cockfighting" betting platform, and that it was a business entity before the politician got into office.

If that's the case, I don't see the conflict of interest. Are we effectively barring politicians from owning private enterprises before entering office? Let the voters decide whether a politician is to be disqualified from public officer because they own a gambling business.


If you look to any country, there's a large portion of politicians operating large scale businesses. It isn't a conspiracy. Running for office doesn't pay well, and it costs money. That money either comes from donors or out of pocket.

This entire story seems blown out of proportion.

A politician never thrives on a gambling platform. They are able to achieve their own interests everywhere through corruption. Politicians should not come to gambling platforms as they see everything through the eyes of politics, they will cause harm to common gamblers. Because the purpose of current politics is not public service, but the main purpose is how to grow by depriving the people. The corruption of politicians concerned businessmen creates lack of coordination among the organizations and the organizations will not do anything against the will of the government or administration.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I disagree, if gambling is legal at a country then any person regardless of their political affiliation should be able to establish a casino if that is what they want to do.

Free enterprise is one of the cornerstones of our modern age, there were many eras and civilizations in which this was not possible, and if you were born into a particular social class then you could not hope to perform any occupation other than that one regardless of your preferences or your talents, something which slowed down our progress, so if a politician wants to open a casino then I do not see anything wrong with it.

What are you talking about? Politicians are corrupt but they use the money they steal to build other businesses and trust me casino is one of those business, since they are in the government already it will be easier for them to set up few numbers if casinos around different states in the country, you need to do more research, there are some Thailand politicians that open gamblings den and they are not clean, I believe that no politicians are completely clean from corruption.

The trouble with politicians getting involved in such companies is huge because gambling sites make huge money with a lot coming in and little going back out again. Politicians should be banned from any connections with certain industries because they can have a large influence on laws designed to regulate them. They can also direct pressure against competitors and make it an unfair environment, maybe directing some sort of police harassment. It's a recipe for disaster really and becomes a dangerous cycle, where they use the money generated to climb up the ladder to become even more powerful. Even the biggest countries with the strongest systems struggle with these conflicts of interest.

I obviously disagree. I do not think that one is supposed to give up on ones hobby because the job or position that ones has. That is rather against individual freedoms.

If we live in a fair and just Republic, we are supposed to be able to do whatever we want with our own money, as long as it is not illegal and we are not inflicting harm on anyone. The only exception I can think of, would be if someone decided to dedicate their life to religion and could not gamble, but that would be also a personal choice.

So, as long as the public funds are left untouched I am fine with politicians gambling or drinking.

Whether you agree or disagree that's how every county who has strict gambling regulations runs their gambling related policies especially here in my place. If you don't want to be held for such policies better not to enter such kind of position.

So a Politician who is also a great businessman then decided to be part of the most trending market in the world as of now, what's wrong with that?
Who is stopping you to own a share or part of a gambling company if you are licensed and paying all your taxes. I don't have any problem with this.

If sabong is cock fighting then with e-sabong I think they are putting the cock fight online
That must be funny though, watching cocks fighting online. LOL.

I did a search and found it's actually real. There are 2 e-sabong which shows cock fights and accepts bets on those.
source: https://www.businessnews.com.ph/who-owns-legal-e-sabong-or-online-sabong-companies-in-the-philippines-20210510/

Gambling is a form of business too so we can't restrict someone from doing it and its inappropriate too because of an single individual used it for bad intentions. Instead of creating policy against gambling business why not have a strict policy against who commits such crimes like they have to be spent life in prison or atleast they can't able to participate in any form of election when they have crime records.

Politicians can come to gambling platforms, and they can do it quietly. Also, they won't say what illegal businesses he owns so he can make more money or make money to campaign and still be elected as a politician. We already know many politicians are corrupt and do many illegal ways to have money to participate in campaigns or raise more money while they are still in government. Politicians with experience running many illegal businesses know how to avoid being tracked by honest and clean government people.

Right, they've got to just avoid and maintain their posture away from any gambling-related matter. Whether as an owner or just a casual gambler, that's where the conflict begins if they won't get away from it.

That's one sad reality but we can just hope that there will be someone mightier than of these folks. They all want to take every position and power that they can but aren't willing to subject themselves under the law if it's being required to them.

There's a taboo for a public servant to be engaged with this type of business. We'll never know how far they can go if they never stop themselves engaged in it. Although this example is far from being a public official, there have been employees that have been entrusted by their companies' funds and then they've gambled it. This is also possible to happen wherein they might just throw the money into their business that's not theirs.

I wonder how many countries are suffering from this corruption and all where a leader is superior to everyone else and he does everything that benefits him but nothing for the country. Politicians in certain countries can go to any extent to have higher gains for them to retire before the proposed age and enjoy their life.

When it comes to gambling platforms or owning casinos, I don't think that a politician will ever be left out since it is one of the most profitable businesses out there if one can manage it well and makes it quite popular.

In the Philippines, this is typical and has been taking place for a while. Many politicians profit from gambling and utilize it to raise significant sums of money that they can use to win elections. Even powerful politicians might see that there are legislators who enjoy gambling, but because they profit from them as well, they don't do action to stop it.
Even though the homicide was widely reported, the politician was nevertheless able to refute the charges by offering fabricated evidence and bribed witnesses. Even if money controlled everything, I trust their opponent would still be given justice.
Speaking of E-sabong, many people are still unaccounted for and may have died as a result of this illicit activity. A little over 40 persons have been missing and still questionable until now. It's tragic that because of their power, money may genuinely govern everything and easily kill lives.

I agree and the government should be precise on their law.  If there is a law that forbids government official to own a gambling platform then that should be enforced. It is as easy as that.


Still, it depends on the existing law.  Not because free enterprise is one of the cornerstones of the modern age, it should bypass the law?  If the law states that owning a gambling platform is not for the government official and even forbid them to own one, it should be followed.  But if there is nothing about it then the government official can own as many gambling platform as they can.
 

Every politician has an interest in anything that enriches their pocket, they do gambling not because they want the profit alone but because they also use it to launder money that is meant for the economic structure, citizen's money, and money meant for arrears settlement and all this attribute to corruption, this is why the government is very harsh on gambling when it comes to regulations, the government only allow them have a franchise but owning one will be hard to track their public work progress.

Money laundering is very easy to do where there is a large in-out of money and this happens everywhere but Politicians are very good at absconding public money and when they do this, they washed it through this process and when the regulation is not tough with gambling, they pass freely, this is why you see that the government is very concern when it comes to gambling and regulation.

Well, if it's a country that has a good judicial system and there is law and order, I don't think a politician from such a country would first use any money for things that are illegal or at least not allowed for a politician to be done just like owning a casino or something. Even if they do own one, they wouldn't use the funds earned through it for their political activities.

And if the country itself is full of corrupt politicians and there is bribery almost everywhere, I don't think that there can be any rule or regulation against such things especially if a politician is involved since they will have the power to clear any charge or order by the judicial system.

In our country, it is prohibited to be involved in any operations related to gambling if you are a government official. This is to avoid the reputation of public officials to be tainted as well as to avoid being caught having dirty money. Gambling connections and participations whether legal or illegal, the responsibility is on the hands of the politicians to stay away from it as much as possible so that there won't be conflict of interest in any point of view.

If a country is known to have a corrupt government and system, the more it is essential to prohibit the involvement since as you said, bribery and other illegal activities that could stem from gambling might be done, but since they have the upper hand, they will get away with it unscathed.

It seems I'm quite late with this discussion well, the recent happenings in the government and politics of the Philippines is, as always with generation. Most of the politicians make their family involved in this. That's why there are a lot of age passing through that comes up to decades. This recent thing is there are a lot of people here whose hobby is cockfighting this becomes part of their culture, and this pandemic, some of the people can't make it into the real derby because of the pandemic issues that are why the e-sabong arise, or online cockfight. Many people are getting addicted to it, but the government shows up concern immediately because of the case of some people until now are still missing due to playing this cockfighting. The government proceeded with a law regarding full stop operating related to this e-sabong. Politicians use this to earn more money and because of poor actions with the government with authorities they cant stop this due to have a high class reputation.

 A memorandum from Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation or PAGCOR. (https://www.pagcor.ph/regulatory/pdf/esabong/esabong-regulatory-framework.pdf)

First of all if there is a country with strict political and judicial laws there can't be any corrupt politicians at all so why we need to confuse it with what business they are involved. Most of just countries have restricted gambling experience because of people but with the policies they can run the system with no serious damage to the business as well as the individual. Whereas even if we have a law that completely denies a politician to involve in any gambling related business but the system is corrupted they can easily make a puppet to be the owner and enjoy all the money comes from so this law isn't really effective.

I don't see anything wrong with a politician having there own casino or having there own gambling platforms. It may be very wrong or against the law in some countries but here, there is nothing wrong. What I know is that the politician would not want the public to know that they have shares in a particular casino or owns it. A politician that is a business man would not mind creating there own casino, allowing gamblers to make bet and earn if they keep making winnings.
This is a private enterprise and a politician have the full right as a citizen of a country to have shares or have there own casino ones they are paying there tax.

True, I mean a politician gambling could generate doubts about the source of those funds and it could destroy their career if their opponents knew how to play their cards right and lead public opinion against them.

But establishing their own casino or being a stock holder on one should not be any cause for concern, as long as gambling is legal on that country, now some people may still see this with bad eyes but we cannot stop politicians from being part of any legal business if there is no law against it.

Every politician is a businessman, and we only knew little about their business as they really don't go public on it, and mostly when it comes to gambling, we know that they want to go into it because we know that the profit there is huge. There are really no problems with this as long as it is legal, but still, politicians don't want to get involved in it, like they really don't publicly show their support for it, or somewhat, as we know that they tend to care about their status and want to get their name heard so that the people will vote for that politician.

Most politicians are originally a businessman so they have enough wealth to be able to join the political parliament but only certain people know what business they are running.
When it comes to the gambling business, politicians usually use methods such as joining the business as investors or paying someone else as their right hand to make them responsible for the casino business that operates so that they can be free from the gambling business which in some countries is still considered illegal.
But there are also gambling businessmen who deliberately become politicians to be able to get security in their gambling business because they also indirectly have power in the government parliament.

It's no secret that some politicians might have a weakness for "chancing their hand," in more ways than one.

Visualize – a tycoon trading boardroom for the Senate. He's a whizz at business, and he's using this savvy to dodge the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in the political arena. Is it so far-fetched to imagine the same canny maneuvers being made in the high-stakes game of their investments, including a dabble in the gamble?

Hold the phone though, let's do a 180 here. Picture a swarm of business bees buzzing towards political honeypots for protection. Sly move, right? But let's stop and ponder: Are we, the ballot casters, ready to ignore these antics? Or should we raise our banners and demand a higher caliber from our public servants? Round and round goes the political roulette wheel!

There is basically no way to run a casino if it's illegal within a country whether it's being run or managed by the right hand of a politician or himself. And, if gambling is legal in a country, I don't see any reason why a politician shouldn't be allowed to own a casino since it is legal and if he has the money to own one, he has all the rights since it is business and government can't stop anyone to run a business within the country.

A person that has money doesn't really need to be in politics only to get better security for their casino since they can simply hire people to do that job for them and they do it pretty well, obviously better than the government.

Anyone can have a gambling platform fully operational as long as he has interest in doing such and have the experience needed as well, irrespective of the profession we are handling, we can still own a gambling platform but that doesn't mean we should have one through an illegal means by making government funds diversion on our own personal interest and business than directing them to the appropriate chanels for national building, money embezzlement is common with the politicians but that doesn't judge the fact that all of them were involved in this kind of corrupt manners.

like we all know that every country has there own rules when it comes to some certain things a politician need to put there hands in. It is legal for a politician to have there own gambling company that is registered and abide to the rules of the constitution. Politics is a deadly game and the opponent can use some means to tag the person bad mostly by making the gambling company looks like a scam to the society. There are so many ways this may be done to jeopardize both the company reputation and the politician so they will not have a large  numbers of voters that would want to vote for the person.

This is why most countries don't really allow the government officials to be involved in such. It is a messy situation the moment a politician enters gambling world the same time he is holding a position in the office because it might display a conflict of interest especially if it is made known to the public. Government officials were trusted by their constituents to prioritize the welfare of the community and the people in it. Hence, if it came to their knowledge that the official they trusted and voted were operating gambling houses which can corrupt the players in the process and do more harm than good for those people who lack discipline, then their name will forever be tainted.

Regardless of profession, yes, one is entitled in their own way of generating profit. However, if you are rendering public service, you must be more careful in choosing career paths that will not harm anyone along the way. After all, public officials took an oath that they have to swear by and uphold.

I don't think politicians with thick skulls understand the concept of "conflict of interest" at all.

There are even politicians who are vying for a certain position in the government in order to put forth their agenda on their own personal businesses. This is why agriculture, infrastructure, and land development are the most sought-after titles in some countries because there are tons of money to be made in these particular industries. Then again, it's appalling that the people are still voting for the same faces come election time and expect that some things will change this time around.

So long as people give power to these crooks over them, things like this would constantly occur and happen even in broad daylight.

Funny you mention it. Politicians indeed understand the concept of conflict of interest, but to them it doesn't mean the same it does to you and I.

In many cases it is just about opportunities to make money, as you mention. I'll give you a current example: in the United States there is an effort by a couple of congress people to push a law which would forbid politicians from holding or trading stocks, the same with their immediate family. Because, since they hold privileged information they can do inside trading.

It is the same with casinos. Either they can be loyal to the people they represent or their casino/stocks.

I think not all of them but some just focus on their new task. This alone can already give them a good salary so why not look for more? It can only gave them a stress and they won't have enough free time anymore for their selves or their family. For those politicians who have a business, the public knows their business because they promote it at the same time when doing campaigns.

It also gives them a free exposure when they promote their business alone. There is no point of hiding the business as long as it was legal but some politicians are involved in a drug trading business but no matter how hard they hide it, it is still being discovered by the public.

these politicians who traffic drugs, usually they also launder money and the best option for these politicians to launder money is building luxury hotels and luxury physical casinos because the business of hotels and physical casinos makes a lot of money and because of that it is the business that politicians are interested in doing, for example in many countries including my country there is tax reduction for those who build physical casinos and hotels in tourist places, according to the government of my country the idea is that with that will attract many tourists to my country and this will accelerate the development of my country, until this way of thinking makes sense, but many people in my country are suspicious of all these measures

this is because the owners of the casino are the politicians who govern my country and also the hotels belong to the politicians who govern my country, and when you do a survey on the wealth that the politicians of my country have vs the salary they earn in the business of hotels and casinos? realize that only with their salary and profits from casinos and hotels it would not be possible for them to have the much money they have, then the thought begins to come that they have clandestine businesses and they launder money and many investigations point in that direction unfortunately, obviously we countries where the laws work and have democracy and less corruption there will be no problem for a politician to have a casino

Some would be bust out but most of the time it would really be hidden considering that there would really be those people who are in position who could really be that just easily be bribed and make things to keep on secret and this is just that part of reality that we are living as of todays society. To those people who had been sitting on the position does have the power on whatever they would really like to do since they do really
have that capability on doing so and this is really just that depending on a certain individuals own perceptions and targets in life because not all would really be considered to be one because there are really some
which are really that honest on what they have promised out once the people had chosen them into such position. They would really be doing their job and doesnt intend to get involved into something
which totally opposes on what they are trying to implement because it is really just that basically contrary in overall.

It seems to me that politicians are not really as nice as they look on TV. Most of them are corrupt, crooks, and scoundrels. They are so devoted to their goals that they are willing to leave mountains of corpses behind them, just so long as the public doesn't know about it. It seems to me that ordinary people have long been denied access to politics and power in any country is built on cronyism and bribery.   

Nowadays, there are many types of illegal activities among the politicians which cannot be judged by the common people. The person we trust to give the vote behaves as he did before the polls but after the polls over the former behavior is not found in him. Moreover, he is behaving as he is with the general public, but a different behavior is working inside him. In general, illegal activities have become a regular activity of politicians. They have the courage to do these things because they are supported by the government if they are from the ruling party.

Politicians are not much into the act of doing good to the people. The major focus of them will be much on profit focused and on personal wellness. Even the governments does the same.

In my country we've got good number of online gambling platforms that are much focused on rummy which is some kind of card game. The deposit is unlimited and for withdrawal one have got 3 free withdrawal, beyond that we need to pay for the withdrawal. For a winning amount worth $10, one has to pay $1.25 as tax. For this reason even the governments favour the gambling platforms to run without any problem.

It is pretty much the same on every country, after all there is a specific personality profile about the kind of person which wants others to follow their lead and obey them, personally I am not interested at all in something like this and I am sure I am not alone on this.

However politicians crave power, and once they get a little it of it they want more, this is a similar process to the one we see with those which become addicted, with the difference that politicians can damage a great deal of their citizens and the citizens of other countries with their actions, and what better example of this than the war at Ukraine.

Countries want to be dominant over the other. For the same they go to any extent which we saw with the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is the government craving for power, here the top order politicians were able to make some impact.

What we discuss here is about the politicians supporting the development of gambling platform. The gambling industry around the world have turned big. The gambling activity were accumulated in specific part and countries of the world. Beyond certain time period the growth in the industry gets to be stable. To have this grow there is need of more gambling platforms and the same is achieved through the support of politicians.

I think you know for yourself the nature of humans, namely always feeling lacking and greedy so they have thoughts of getting even bigger results or salaries so they will do everything they can to make it happen, one of which is by doing the gambling business or other businesses that make a lot of money even though that is an illegal business.
There are lots of politicians like this and as an example some politicians in the country where I live they hold several businesses such as gambling and selling alcohol which is clearly prohibited in my country.

What is clear is that when politicians have a gambling business, no other party dares to mess with it because they have the power so that they are well utilized.