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The recent development here is that e-wallets are being ordered to remove gambling platforms linked to them. The government believes it’s one of the main reasons why gambling addiction has grown in the country. We only have 48 hours to still enjoy the service before it’s officially removed tomorrow.

E-wallets make gambling very convenient since it’s so simple, you just add funds to your wallet, link it to a casino, and you’re ready to play. At first, the recommendation was to increase the minimum deposit, but it seems that wasn’t viable, so they ended up totally ordering e-wallets to remove gambling app links.

What do you think about this move by the government? Will it significantly reduce gambling addiction, or will it only make the problem worse?

source :

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https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2095954/bsp-e-wallets-must-unlink-from-e-gambling-sites

Well, I have read the news and I am not sure if it is one or the other. I am against the ban on gambling because it does not solve anything and the only thing it does is to bring the industry and players to the underground, with the problems that entails. But this what seems like a difficulty when it comes to depositing funds does not seem catastrophic to me. The only thing it seems like it might do is make people unable to deposit as quickly. The industry is not happy but as long as people are allowed to keep betting it doesn't seem like a terrible move.

I know it’s sad, but if it’s for the benefit of many, then I think the government’s action has to be respected. After all, what’s lost here is just the convenience of using an e-wallet for gambling, the gambling itself is still available, just not as easy to access through e-wallets.

You know how those e-wallets with direct links make it so easy for people to gamble. That can really lead to addiction, especially for those who had no plans to gamble but see it there, get curious, and decide to try.

At the end of the day, it’s an e-wallet payment app regulated by the central bank, so it should really be for banking purposes, not for gambling.

I don't think the policies implemented to limit gamblers deposits will be effective enough to reduce gambling addiction. Gamblers can still make deposits using other methods. They can continue to bet as usual. It may just require adjustments in the process. The government will always look for ways to address this issue, until perhaps there will eventually be a gambling ban. Although the government may not be able to manage everything properly.

The aim of the government is not to stop gambling totally their aim is to reduce the number of addicted gamblers which I think is not totally bad because whatever affects the citizens has a direct effect to the government. The removal of the e- wallets will frustrate gamblers from gambling because they will not find it easy to fund their accounts but if there are other ways they can still fund their accounts without using the e- wallets then the government hasn't done enough to stop gambling addiction.

If this is correct, it shows that there are more people who are using fiat than cryptocurrency for gambling. The government has more power to control and regulate it than cryptocurrency. While I also agree  that it is true that it may be encouraging gambling addiction, it will not be as effective as they hope it will.

Those e-wallets you use in the Philippines are only for fiat currency, right?
Are they linked to your bank accounts, and until now, were you able to link them to a casino and play with your account balance?

If so, that was really convenient, but if the ban is only on e-wallets, you can still deposit normally via transfer, right?
Or even use stablecoins...

I am not a citizen of Philippines and don't live in that country, so it's very hard or impossible for me to understand how hard or bad the new gambling policy is hitting on you guys, but however it is, I commiserate with you guys over there and also assure you guys that there is always a solution and alternative to most things in life.

First, I do not see what they government are doing or have done as a bad thing if truly there have become alot of addicted gamblers in your country, the government definitely had to do something to cub or remedy the situation as it's their sole responsibility to guide, protect, and uphold the morals and well-being of the people they govern, so I am personally happy for what they have done to protect the citizens of the country from ending up destroying themselves as a result of gambling.
But thank goodness that gambling was not banned totally in the country, now, only serious gamblers will have to find a way around the traditional way of depositing and withdrawing to and from casinos, and maybe the alternative you guys will have to turn to is cryptocurrency.

I wouldn't go so far as to declare it a sad day for gamblers in the Philippines. Gambling, online and offline is still allowed and very much legal. As to if it would make gambling addiction worse or better? It really doesn't seem to make any difference to me as people would still seek out easier means to gamble. This move would likely not make much of a difference in the addiction rate. It also could be a law passed so constituents would see what a good job their representative is doing over at the capital.
This doesn't make gambling addiction worse nor does it make it any better. Likely performative if you ask me.

Gambling sites ads and links supposed not to be on ewallets, that is very wrong in my opinion. If you find out, it is possible that under 18 can also use the ewallet. Maybe I am wrong but there are some fintech apps and banking apps in my country that under 18 are using now.

Although, I do not think that is the reason for gambling addiction in the country. If they are trying it to reduce gambling addiction, they are only deceiving themselves with this approach.

Suppose you’re a responsible gambler and you read and watch the news about a bus driver playing scatter while driving, or a construction worker earning a minimum of $15, and they bet $5, you will feel disappointed. These people are trying to make a living from gambling.

Gambling become very rampant in the Philippines, because of influencers and celebrities who are iresposible on how they promote gambling, they promote it as a way to make money and to change your life, they don’t even have a disclaimer about being a responsible gamber, all they want is to have views and sign up so they will received their commissions.

They just did it right. At least those with low-end phones will not even try to gamble and play on gambling applications that are popular in the Philippines. That's one reason why they won't play because it will just lag on their phone, or it cannot even handle the battery consumption.

Then, there's also the hassle of deposits, since you will need to open two big RAM-eating applications. No one likes that, and I do wish that the digital money applications would also have some kind of restriction on deposits for gambling sites based in the Philippines.

I like what is happening because I always see a lot of people on the streets still gambling even while they are at work. Just last time I went to an electronic bike repair shop, and one of the technicians was playing slots (you will know from the sounds), I just smiled at him, even though deep inside I was thinking that he could've helped his co-worker to do the job instead of gambling.

For me, it’s not a long term solution. It will only slow down for the time being, but once gamblers get used to depositing through merchants, it will surely surge again and go back to how it was before. I won’t be surprised if there will be ads on how to deposit in the coming days. I don’t think the government will just let go of billions of pesos in yearly tax revenue like that. Maybe they’re doing things like this because it’s a hot topic, but once it dies down, the next step will be very slow again.

I have been seeing enough threads created recently all about the gambling challenges the citizens are facing and the unnecessary actions taken by their government, for the benefits of those on this forum, the earlier the better, if you have an asset on any of the aforementioned platform, withdraw then and take them to a non custodial wallet, be safe and well prepared for the worst ahead, government in Philippines are not taking it likely this time, just a pity many innocent gamblers are going o be affect by all these change of policies in accepting gambling operations in the country.

If I look at him literally, they will be able to control gambling because most of the government officials themselves are gambling protectors., first of all, e-wallets are not casinos. All they did was remove the use of e-wallets in casinos. Now the question is, will this solve the spread of gamblers? The answer is no.

Why did I say that? There is still the debit card, the digital bank, can that still be used? If you look at it, it is not the casino itself that is targeted but e-wallets that are not casino operators, doesn't it seem stupid?

Banning E-wallets won't change anything cause it's not a problem for gamblers but for the digital wallets that operates in that country they're the ones who would lose customers, many customers that are gamblers, the gamblers in that country can still seek other alternatives to make payment and continue gambling the only way it would really affect gamblers is if crypto related betting sites and casino's are banned totally or if gambling in general is banned totally but I doubt if the government would do that they're only seeking for solutions to gambling addiction and not trying to ban gambling. Yeah you're right gambling who lose quick deposit would have to adjust and seek other alternatives.

Ive watched the videos of senators discussing it does it means games like BingoPlus the local famous gambling site will also be removed from the gcash site?

I will check the news and details of it today and watch all information pertaining to this. Its also one of my hub when Im bored so if this gonna be implemented to bad for some users who find it enjoyable.

When they said that every gambling site must be disconnected from the e-wallets through which the gambling sites are funded, I believe that also includes and mean that even the one that you mentioned, "bingoplus" will be disconnected too, as it is absolutely not proper to disconnect some casinos and still allow some casinos to operate, that would that the government are indirectly supporting and endorsing the casinos that were not disconnected from the G-cash platform, and such believe could rub off negatively on the governments reputation.

It's always a very disappointing experience when ever the government comes out to ban something that we the citizens have gotten used to for fun and entertainment, like when the previous government of Nigeria banned X (formally known as Twitter) in Nigeria, many of us had to improvise and find a way to still access the platform because for some reason, we can't do without it, lol 😁

It’s a good move for me. Usually, you’ll see that many poor people are the ones who often get even more hooked on online gambling, but for some of us like crypto users, there are still a lot of options to gamble. Actually, it’s a good thing to ban gambling sites if the implementation isn’t too strict and even minors can gamble and play scatter games. I know many students who end up spending all their allowance on scatter games, and it affects their studies.

I just hope they make the requirements stricter, especially for underage individuals and students.

Philippine, government ordering the e wallet operators to remove gambling platforms will reduce gambling to some extent in that country but it cannot eradicate it. So far there's no total ban on it addiction will still continue, the chronic addicts will simply deposit directly into a gambling platform. Those that the ban of e wallets will affect are casual gamblers who started to gamble because of the ease of using the e wallets. Restrictions will only make the resolve of serious gamblers to be more. We will wait and see how this new step to combat gambling addiction will workout but I think that the best strategy would be to enlighten the citizens about the dangers of gambling addiction.

Maya, Gcash and other ewallets that are used to link their accounts to online casinos have to remove their connection and easy to online sites. But, I think that there is a need to clarify that it won't fully stop an individual to still gamble online. Online gambling is still allowed and what needs clarification is this;


Which means that it's still possible for a gambler to deposit in any possible way. What these ewallets will do is just remove the links and icons, so maybe a manual transfer or deposit to an online gambling account could still be possible for an individual gambler to do it.

This will worse the situation because the upcoming news, we will hear they complaining if their citizen gamble on illegal casinos and it affect the whole country because the money will be out from the country. Unlike when they still accept gambling, they can tax income from both gamblers and companies.

I haven't see a problem is solved after the government completely ban it, the government should make their citizen more prosperous/livable, the reason why people gamble are to make money. I still remember Filipino prefer to play Axie Infinity rather than working in real life, that's mean they have a problem in economy.

You are already aware of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency to use for deposit into your gambling account. I don't think this should be a problem to you unless you only use local casinos that deal on fiat and not cryptocurrency.  Maybe your government will indirectly be pushing people towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrency with this decision to discontinue the use of bank wallets to fund gambling.

OP is right. The news is coming from an official source. Check on the internet.

What I dont understand and I'm still trying figure out is why why the government in Philippine are extremely against gambling. Removing access for fiat user in e-wallet will cause many gamblers to lose interest. While for many gamblers who uses crypto will still make sure they gamble, no matter what.

This makes sense and might reduce addiction, but it's not effective in my opinion. Online gambling isn't just about using an e-wallet; there are other features, like banks, that can be linked to casinos. I don't think the government can eliminate these banks. However, e-wallets do make it easier for many people to gamble online, as some people don't have bank accounts, but they do have e-wallets, which tend to be simpler.

Thank you bhadz. If that's true, then the news is very different from what we all were thinking. In fact, one could originally think that the restrictions in the use of e-wallets for whatever reason would go against the Filipino citizens' freedom. But if the reality is that only the links and icons will be eliminated, then we can consider it a good measure to avoid compulsive gambling.

This only restricts fiat users from making deposits and it still doesn't stop all the payment methods, some gamblers can still look for platforms that allows the use of cryptocurrency. The case of gambling addiction keeps getting worse in the Philippines and the government doesn't have a clue on how to solve them problem asides from putting a ban on gambling but this is not a permanent solution to it

In cases like this, the government will always prevail, because the people cannot fight against their decision on this or protest for anything, for now, everyone is advised to stay low in gambling activities and their participations, because there will be more closer look on the people for those that will be found abusing the law, then later after everything subsides, they may choose a perfect means of gambling without going through the centralized gambling platforms that make use of kyc, i don't also think migrating from the country to other regions that permits for gambling are the best alternatives for now.

How come that you consider this as a sad day? It was explicitly mentioned that unregulated online gambling websites would be removed from linking wallets from our payment providers. Not only does this combat against unregulated online gambling websites but this also protects the people from unwanted and potential scams that are bound to happen anytime soon.

Always remember that there is a limit to freedom- when something illegal is prohibited, then they should have not existed in the first place. Same concept with unregulated gambling casinos- without procuring any license for their operations, they should definitely cease and desist from their operations.

Gamblers will simply look for alternative ways to maintain their gambling habits. I don't think the problem is going to get worse, but it will probably continue happening on the same proportions it does right now. Bans and censorship don't work at all. What works it's to work with preventive education. If gamblers know about the risks involved in gambling and its consequences, they will avoid getting involved with this practice, or will play just with a minor portion of their funds.

Bans just encourage gamblers to seek the forbidden as something even more pleasant and rewarding than if it was legalized.

On the other hand, if the population is characterized by passivity regards their personality in general, there are some chances the measure by the government can be effective. It really depends on what kind of population we are talking about.

People are just going to find a new way to gamble, it really won't stop anything. Drugs are illegal and has everyone stopped using them? Simple truth is education is what will help curb gambling. If people are taught the dangers, they may be less inclined to try the activity or at least be more responsible when doing it.

It appears that the government aims to ban advertisements and automated connections related to gambling, rather than the gambling itself. Most likely, it's a step toward having better control over people who gamble, such as minors.


Even if the dangers from gambling are big and can destroy anyone, people look only at the bright side of it, which is being rich in minutes. So, they bypass anything bad and focus only on this. No matter how much they will educate, this possibility remains strong and can't be fought easily.

If the government don't aimed at totally stopping of gambling but limiting access to funding gambling wallet it's seems not enough and like a joke to me because at some point if an addict is not depositing through the e wallet, their can as well make deposits through other traditional sources or better still move on to online cryptocurrency casinos that give them the 100% freedom to do whatever it seems right with them.


What I noticed is that government don't really care about the people and this actions is not really about attempt to stop or reduce gambling addiction but may be the government ant getting enough tax and revenue from the e wallet operators and can't really monitor the activities of their citizens on those gambling sites so the tax isn't coming in as it should, that could be the hidined reason for that move by the government.

What are now some of these preventive education we need to informed the people about it, because now that the regulation has been made, they are not going to see it as what they can allow anyone to bye pass being punished once caught, its rather a time to let everyone in Philippines gambling to check their strategies as you have advised, then made it a commitment for obtaining more of privacy in gambling than how they were used to open gambling and the use of the physical casinos.

It is clear that people will find a way to bypass the restrictions, but then the government will "guess" to come up with new restrictions on those bypass methods, etc. It's a degenerative spiral of wasting effort on nothing. After all, if a person wants something, they will find a way, why not leave them alone and let them decide how to spend their money? That's why they all want the CBDC - to take away your choice at the level of owning your money.

I think this isn't that first time I've seen that the Philippine government are putting a ban to gambling, are they in the process of doing it or it's been done already? If e wallets are removed form online casino platforms it still doesn't put a stop to gambling addiction, people that are addicted would definitely look for alternatives to keep on gambling. Stopping an addiction isn't easy, it takes more than forceful means to do that

Unregulated casinos should indeed be banned because it will only harm the government that runs the regulation,
because no taxes are obtained, and no audits are carried out so that the community itself will bear the risk because of the unknown system.

Not about banning LEGAL gambling, But to eradicate ILLEGAL gambling that has a negative impact and more losses.

This policy was taken because of the increasing surge of online casinos so that Illegal online casinos continue to emerge and take over the gambling market,
the prohibition of illegal gambling is the first step to protect the public from illegal gambling scams and eradicate illegal casinos that are unregulated and do not pay taxes.

I don't know how bad gambling addiction is in the Philippines but it seems the government is tackling it like a national emergency. The law makers gave forty eight hours to these e-wallet operators to comply with the directive and I think the duration is small. People should be given more time to at least withdraw their money from these wallets.

Massive crackdown on casinos through stringent regulations might not reduce gambling addiction drastically. The government should focus on reducing poverty and fighting corruption. Many Philipinos see gambling as a pathway out of poverty because of bad governance.

It's not the end of gambling in your country mate, so you shouldn't just conclude to be sad on this day. I think the government knows what's best for it's people. Connecting the  e wallet directly to ones casino account might be in a way not as good as we think because that way you may end up gambling all your savings. We know that sometimes we may not be able to stop our selfs and just play till all funds have been exhausted..

Though it might not have much positive effect if they really want to reduce addiction in the country because people would still be able to deposit through other means...

It will reduce the engagement of people with those casinos on the short term, but there is no way those measures being taken by the government of Philippines will get rid of addiction... People who are already addicted to gambling will find another ways to get access to those casinos, without having to rely their money to those electronic wallets, I bet many of those gamblers in the Philippines are considering right now to get into casinos which accept Bitcoin as deposit.
This will only make the government to have fewer data on how many active gamblers there are in the country and also how many of them coins be addicted to gambling. There just pushing their gambling industry to go underground.

The government can not stop people from gambling but if they do things right, they might be able to make people limit the way the gamble. From what I understand from the OP, they just want to make sure that the rate of addicted gamblers reduce, they actually have good plans for their citizens. But what they don't understand is that there are a lot of other easier ways to gamble without using the E wallet.

I don't know how things work in the Philippines. What's the country's economic situation like? Generally, when governments implement such bans, if their economy isn't doing well and they can't collect a sufficient amount of tax revenue, they first resort to bans, then collect the taxes they want, and then release them.
It's also important to remember that bans always lead to new methods, which are generally illegal.
In our country, betting is prohibited outside of legal betting sites due to tax reasons, but access is provided through VPNs, and deposits and withdrawals to these sites are very easy with cryptocurrencies.

It is to eliminate the ease at which people are able to fund their gambling account and by extension discourage a lot of people from gambling. It can be an effective method for a while but the gamblers who are already used to gambling, and were initially discouraged from gambling by this move will later find a way to fund their accounts to keep gambling. The new method of funding their accounts may not be easier but these gamblers will not mind. So if it is in the intention of the government reduce the number of gambling addicts in the country they need to set educational programs to educate people on it or take more drastic measures.

It will lessen addiction because it will take more effort to gamble, and I don't think people would be going into it anymore because it's harder. What I'm worried about are those gamblers who are dependent on gambling.

I think what would suffer is the gaming businesses that have legal licenses, but it's a task that needs to be done because a lot of people are addicted to it and it's affecting their lives.

Of course it will help your government achieve their aim, which is to reduce the rate of gambling and its addiction tendencies especially if the rate of traditional gamblers is high, by traditional gamblers I mean those who gamble majorly with fiat but If they are cutting you guys off that way and the number of crypto gamblers is still high then it may not have mattered much. Gamblers over there might not be cool with such government policy but the government know better from their data record.

They know that such action will give some weak gamblers a reason to discontinue and that means more people will be taking out of addiction.

Solution can be sort with using crypto gambling platform.

Ain't that a good indication that this government after all is doing something significant to help the mass whose sinking into gambling addiction. The country is not a rich country and having a population of addicted gamblers will not help make the people do something to help themselves if men are gambling.

However this is not enough to make the people quit gambling, if that's what they really are up to. Make online gambling difficult for the masses so that only the rich can have access to the platforms.

Honestly, this is just one of the ways the Philippine government is trying to reduce the impact of gambling on society, as electronic wallets can make it easier for gamblers to freely make deposits and withdrawals quickly, conveniently, and from anywhere. However, it is important to understand that this alone will not make gamblers stop or give up so easily, as in the modern digital age, anything can be done with the ease of access available, and there are still many other alternatives that can be used to continue gambling.

The government of Philippines wants to help you all from getting addicted or escape your addictions why are you guys not encouraging the ideas, they are helping for crying sakes  ;D ;D Lolz just being sarcastic  8)

BTW, most of the times government misplaced priorities living out real issue and facing the once that could be easily cope with. Even though they are doing something about the situation it's not totally bad, it only makes it hard to gamble now, those who really wants to gamble will find a harder solution.

I believe the relation is ease deposite or access form e- wallet which makes gambling process  much more easier for the users.. If it's gone then it could help some from not beign able to easily deposit into such casino, they will be forced to use other method which could discourage them from going beyond the funds  they plan to gamble.. it's a step but that doesn't  stop much as there are still other ways to do that though could be stress compared to what they are used to doing.

This is not a too good news for the gambling community the the country because removing casinos from e_ wallets so that gambler's are not able the deposit via their e_ wallet is not the solution to curbing gambling related addiction as the government is claiming, government should rather invest their time and resources in making sure that they go for an advocacy campaign geared towards sensitizing the citizens especially the gambling community of the effects of gambling this is the only way to reduce gambling addiction in the country

That is true.
With ban o unlinking from the wallets being used for gambling online, people are clever and real gamblers will still find a way to do it.
Too many alternatives will still be found by them and even there is an outright action from the government, nothing can stop these gamblers.
Stopping gamblers will just make them want to have more and it will not happen regardless of what kind solution the government proposes.

I think they should have retained those gambling apps within the e-wallet, so that they can regulate them easily by just monitoring the e-wallet's compliance with their newly imposed laws towards gambling.
Now, they need to monitor these gambling websites one by one, whether they comply or are secretly breaking the law. I bet there will be fake casinos coming up to scam people.

When it comes to controlling addiction, I support this move by the government. Although we can't say for now how effective it was, I hope this will also help to control addiction. Honestly, the convenience of depositing and withdrawing gives people easy access to the site. Getting back to the old setup and stricter gambling compliance makes ordinary people stop online gambling. This may not completely eliminate illegal online gambling, but I'm certain this will have a positive impact on controlling addiction. We may be sad about it, but if this would help minimize addiction, why not?

The government still has the power to regulate gambling because people still use systems like e-wallets to gamble instead of cryptocurrencies. But yes, if everyone is addicted to gambling and if it is harmful to the country, then the government will definitely take action to improve the situation in its country.

In fact, the government has now taken a step to reduce the number of gambling addicts, but I think the government should raise awareness to eliminate gambling addiction along with banning this gambling.

To answer this question, it is necessary to know if the government has any reliable research that shows that the number of people addicted to gambling is increasing and that the cause is because of e-wallets, because it seems to me that the government is just making assumptions, I don't see why they would

take this measure because they could regulate gambling sites so that they would receive financial reports on how people are spending money on gambling sites, and e-wallet owners and banks could restrict people who were spending excessively on gambling sites, it is not very difficult for the government to do this.

Well, I don’t see this as a bad day for gamblers, I almost thought that gambling was banned completely from the Philippines. I do not live in the Philippines, but from what I see on the Internet, it seems there are alot of gambling related challenges going on there; ranging from addictions to even scams through gambling.

If the government deems it neccessary to regulate the rate at which people gamble in the country, then it should be seen as an issue of national interest. This is just the government carrying on with their duty of regulation. Gamblers in the Philippines will get used to it soon.

I think this constant threats on a ban in gambling is becoming very alarming such that I've come across so many threads concerning the ban in Philippines, and I was thinking probably the rate at which people get addicted over there is weighing more than expectations and there younger ones isn't safe as they can be misled at any time but ain't sure about it changing the situation of reduction in gambling addiction.

I do not think that it is that bad... kindly check the statement quoted


It was just a direct link from the e-wallet to the gambling platform that was removed, and players can still use their e-wallets to top up their bankroll by directly using the e-gambling site to generate a QR code where a person can send funds from their e-wallets.

It seems that the scenario makes a lot of difference, but in reality, there is none; it is only the shortcut that was removed, not the system of being able to fund the gambling account with the ewallet funds.

E wallet means something like Google pay?

If yes, then it can take a hit on the users for short term but it will recover from that, and that is why we have crypto, so that we can enjoy gambling whenever we want to. Also the question about banning e wallet will reduce addiction, possibly but the root cause isn't the mode of payment but the misuse from the people so need to address that for long term effect.

E-wallet or not they can't regulate how people gambles over the time provided there are ways to still funds one account then it doesn't change anything at all.
Anyone who must be a gambling addiction must surely be addicted gambler and any amount you try to control it can never be reduced or stopped because already that routed into gambling. Government are always protective to make sure they help reduced addiction but they aren't taken the right steps to control gambling addictions or whatsoever. I think there are have been several strategies and modalities that has already been discussed which if government abide to it that may definitely helps their citizens to reduce gambling addiction.

Yeah an app that can hold funds and use as payment gateway, the popular in my country  are Gcash and Maya.


It was not the funding from e-wallet to e-gambling that was banned, but the advertisement from these e-wallets that link directly to the gambling platform, and the link payment from e-wallet to e-gambling platform that enables direct funding from e-wallet without accessing the gambling site.

but the system of funding the e-gambling site from e-wallets is not banned rather, the player need to access the gambling site first to create a QR code or a payment request then paid by these e-wallet. It is like

Before : can fund directly from ewallet without accessing the egambling sites
After: need to access the gambling site first generate a payment request before funding with e-wallets

They are only removing gambling from e-wallets but I do not think they are removing gambling altogether so panic is not guaranteed. It just makes sure that those who really can't afford to be losing money in gambling are now safe since they would have to use other methods of payment in online casinos so it is not as accessible to everyone and can reduce gambling addiction.

No doubt e-wallets are having easy access which are increasing gambling activity in many countries just because of this government is doing this for me most chances this is going to help for having some control because other methods are not easy even have many restrictions as well.
Before entering into crypto I never have access to any gambling site because this was not easy for having depositing and withdrawing but after joining crypto I was able to first time playing online which is still going after years if our government is also going to have this law surely I am going to be out of this as well.
Few countries are facing this problem just because of this trying to control things which are under their surveillance even still things are now on level which doing this looking not easy for them.

Where you normally see high rate of gamblers or addicted gamblers is a country where people lack job or where unemployment rate is very high, the government should tackle their poverty rate first by increasing the employment rate in the country and make jobs available for its citizenry, that will definitely reduce number of people engaging in gambling or getting addicted to gambling.

That’s the Philippines.. still a corruption problem where half of the country’s budget ends up in the hands of politicians, while projects and services remain substandard. They just want to make people dependent on them, so actions like this are probably just to show they’re doing something, but in reality, it doesn’t solve the problem.

While the government earns revenue from gambling, their friends who operate these platforms are also making a lot of money, and in the end, it’s the ordinary Filipinos who suffer financially.

They’ve removed the easiest alternative for gambling. Back when GCash and PayMaya (e-wallets) had not links to gambling websites, gambling wasn’t as rampant in the country. That’s why the Senate saw this move as a way to reduce gambling exposure.

The president has reiterated that he can’t impose a blanket ban on gambling, but he supports proper regulation, and that’s one of the plans they want to implement. For now, we can’t gamble using those apps, but there are plenty of alternatives if we really want to play. For us, it’s not a problem, but for some, it might discourage them.

It's disheartening to see irresponsible gamblers who struggle to make ends meet yet gamble their hard-earned money. However, for seasoned gamblers, cryptocurrency offers a reliable alternative.
There’s a lot of blame to go around for the massive marketing by these local casinos. They have no restrictions or even a disclaimer, and their streamers and ads are everywhere - they’ve even invaded noon-time shows.
When you hire influencers to promote, they often resort to deceptive marketing tactics to boost sign-ups and reactions. Misleading marketing is the culprit for why addiction is prevalent in the Philippines.

That's the sad true behind the business, there are many tricks and alluring ads that this casino business are being offered, just like what you've said for those who are already addicted it's going to be a good way to prevent them getting an easy access to gamble, while to those who kows how to navigate and understand what are their alternatives crypto is one of those considerable venue to play.

It’s not the gambling industry’s fault here because they’ll always find a way to attract gamblers to play. Whatever they think will help, they’ll do, including partnering with e-wallets and even getting big celebrities to endorse gambling. The real problem lies with the government, because they have the responsibility to regulate it, yet they haven’t done it well.

It’s sad that the problem has already become so rampant that they had to make this abrupt decision. If they had recognized and addressed the issue earlier, it wouldn’t have reached this level.

Since e-wallet has made gambling services much easier, if you have funds in your e-wallet, you can link it and play gambling directly from the casino platform, then it is a great advantage and anyone can play gambling by recharging their e-wallet money, which will attract more people to gambling, so I think the possibility of gambling addiction will increase. However, this step of the government is a very good step, if they can successfully complete this step, it will be very good for the people of the country, but at first people may oppose it because not everyone will agree with the steps taken by the government.

They hire effective influencers and make a lot of money, but the results are not good for the community due to many people becoming addicted. It is sad to say, but I believe it is a need, as the situation is not tolerable anymore. And this decision is right due to the issues it concerns. Unfortunately, this also hurts the gambling industry.

However, I believe this will not be the end of the journey of online games. Besides, it is only the links that are removed, which means online gambling is still alive. Only the said easy deposit and withdrawal have been gone.

From what I understand, you can still use your e-wallets to top up or withdraw just fine by accessing the gamba websites directly or their app.


But these e-wallets won't have any gambling quick links in their app. Honestly, I'm not expecting gambling activities to decrease much, maybe a bit but not a lot.

Honestly, I like my fintech apps to be clean as much as possible, and I find these other services to be just an added clutter lol. In any case, I'm glad to gamba using cryptos.

In this case, every decision has its pros and cons. It's undeniable that online gambling addiction has increased rapidly recently. Unfortunately, many gamblers with "fomo",  simply follow the trend and end up becoming addicted. Many of them fail to control their emotions and the urge to gamble again. This is a fundamental aspect of gambling: not being carried away by the urge to continue gambling. Emotional control is crucial to stop gambling at some point.

Perhaps because of incidents like this, the government has tightened regulations regarding gambling, including closing all possibilities that facilitate gambling activities.

If we’re being honest, it’s a very futile attempt to stop gambling addiction. It’s true that e-wallet makes gambling deposits easier and less stressful but if the government of your country decides to stop it then all you have to do is to follow the traditional deposit method and with time it will become the norms once again.

The reason why you think this whole development would affect people is because you’ve been using this e-wallet method for too long and now the long deposit via crypto transactions now seems like a whole series of steps - but if you do it continuously for just two months or even less than that, you won’t be able to even feel that stress again, it will be a normal gambling routine for you. That’s why I think it’s a futile move.

It will reduce the time it takes for the gambler to have access to easily fund their wallet for gambling. But gambling addiction will continue.

There should be a country-wide program by the government for gambling addicts to sign up and seek help. It should be intensive and should run for six months with trained volunteers who will follow up with the gambling addicts who are participating in the program to ensure that they have control over their gambling.

This is how proactive the government should be if they really want to reduce gambling addiction.

I agree with you. It won't reduce the gambling addiction, nor the number of gamblers. They will always try to find another way to transfer money into gambling sites. Sure, there should be some alternatives, they government is impossible to stop it totally. If the government is really serious to reduce the number of addiction, I think it is better to provide more gambling education to all people. I mean the government can make a program to educate the gamblers to avoid an excessive gambling. The government also can cooperate with casinos to make places for public consultation for the gamblers regarding their gambling problems. Even if it seems a small chance to try this one, but I assume this can bring a better impact than banning gambling activities from e-wallets.

Banning gambling hasn't helped out in the fight against gambling addiction instead it has only increased the different other ways people can gamble and this is also going to happen as other means will be developed that people can use in gambling that doesn't involve using of ewallets. With the constant attack on centralized services of gambling, I believe the decentralized ways will begin to gain more attention and while that'll increase the adoption of decentralized application, it'll be more dangerous as then there'll be no control. Shouldn't the government look for other ways of handling this problem than still making this a new law, they should rethink because it isn't going to solve the problem.

This is really sad for small and addicted gamblers, but for high rollers, this isn’t an issue to them. They can still gamble all they want provided they have huge amount on their bank account, or let’s say on their own bankroll. However, although the convenience is gone which I think one of the reasons also why gambling addiction becomes high, but I know this is also one way of reducing the number of addicted online gamblers.

This is a sad news for majority of the gamblers, but just like in any case, when a single door closes, another door is set to open. So let’s wait for it, another convenient option will eventually rise soon.

That's making the access difficult. Accessibility is one reason why everybody is gambling, anytime anywhere. However, while it may contribute to lessen gambling addiction, I'm afraid it won't make a significant change.

It's not even accessibility to gambling itself that's addressed. It's just the deposit method. It's not anymore as convenient as before, but gambling apps remain accessible to everybody regardless of age. Young children may continue to gamble despite the recent order.

If the government is more serious, they should ban free gambling apps and sites. They could impose a relatively high subscription fee to make it much less accessible especially to the poor and young children.

And that's why there are many addicted gamblers here in our country. These E-wallets made it very simple, easy and convenient for gamblers to deposit funds hence, many are getting addicted to gambling.

Well, they didn't ban licensed gambling websites so many will still be operating, but in this particular part, I'm very much happy to see these e-wallets removing those gambling websites on their platform. Let's face it. They have a huge part as to why there are many addicted gamblers right now. Imagine if they didn't integrate those in their platform. The number might be lower, but it is what it is now. What's good is that they're removing it already.

This will not reduce gambling addiction SIGNIFICANTLY, but this will reduce at least the number. I don't see this making the problem worse because at the end of the day, those gamblers will still find a way for them to gamble. ;) It's just that it's less convenient and less easier.

In my opinion, this wont solve the problem!

This type of government's action won't be very effective because although this limitation may reduce the frequency of betting for some types of players, the problem won't be solved.

Indeed... the more bureaucratic steps and limitations, the less impulsiveness there will be, but as long as there are ways to continue betting, even through intermediaries or "less conventional and practical" methods, gambling will continue.

The positive aspect I see here is that this could reduce clandestine transactions and money laundering, as deposits will have to go through more regulated methods.

Anyway... thank goodness I'm not Filipino, but I feel the pain these people are suffering with this limitation.
In any case... it will still be possible to play at any other online casino located outside of this country.

That move is normal taken by the government because they see the number of people who use e-wallets for gambling increasing. They don't want more people to become addicted to gambling so they decided to take that move.

That could reduce gambling addiction but I am not sure if gamblers will reduce. They will find another way to gamble so that will not stop them.

The government needs to be serious about educating their people and strict with the rules. People themselves need to aware of the gambling effects. Without working together with all sides, the moves will not work perfectly.

I think this could be the best thing that might happen to the country. I mean, if we look at it's history, there are a lot of problems in gambling already and the country needs to act something to deter as it's decaying their community as more people are turning into gamblers and worst, into gambling addicts. There could still be other ways to play though even if they ban or removed it from their e-wallets. There are still apps can you can download for either Android or Apple. But at least it might deter some who can easily access any online gambling platform as it is connected to their e-wallet.

I think what the government is doing here is not to ban gambling at all, but to make it's accessibility more difficult so that only those who truely wants to gamble are the ones who would go through the hassle of finding a way they can get their money into the Casino without the help of the e-wallet which already have been disconnected from every gambling casino.

And one thing I've been saying before is that cryptocurrency can likely act as another great alternative but this is if cryptocurrencies are not banned in the country, but still, assuming crypto was still banned in that country, I still see people from Philippines buying and hodling cryptocurrencies as investment for the future, so definitely gambler who wishes or wants to gamble using cryptocurrencies will have to device ways they can get what they want.

Yeah, just like I said, I won’t be surprised if there will be ads showing how to deposit. Once players get used to it again, boom, it’s back to normal. That’s the only thing the government can do for now, to slow it down. I doubt those in the gambling business will allow it to be completely banned easily. They will pull some strings for sure, and it’s possible since this is the PH. Plus, the government can’t easily give up the huge tax revenues they’re getting. That will be a huge loss for them if ever.

Given the current situation, there's certainly a lot that can be done with this rapidly advancing technology. Those who are accustomed to gambling but are experiencing problems due to government action won't be at a loss for ways to continue gambling. They can find their own ways to do what they want. One way they can do this is by doing what you said.
And yes, what you said is true. The government isn't prohibiting them from gambling but simply making it more difficult. Simply eliminating e-wallets won't actually stop gamblers.

You are right, information and education will be more important, at least to reduce the chain of gambling addiction in the next generation. If those who are already addicted cannot be stopped, then the hope is to save the next generation with education and information that can help those who will gamble. Besides, we can see how countries that prohibit or limit gambling actually cannot fully enforce the rules they have made.

Players will always find a way to express their desire to play, so government measures may not be completely successful, only temporarily.
Especially for players who are already familiar with crypto, they will use crypto to make deposits.
And also if it's just a prohibition on the use of digital wallets, can't we still use banks? If it's still possible, then making deposits through the bank is an option.

Well let the government do whatever they think can make gambling addiction reduce in the country. If truly the government have carried out their due investigation and found out that it is the e-wallet that's causing gambling addiction in the country I support their move. Since they didn't say nobody should gamble in the country. Their fight is against gambling addiction, you and I don't equally want to see majority of gamblers getting addicted, as we already know the consequences of addiction. I still believe there will be other means for gamblers to fund their accounts in your country.

Although it is not something similar to what is happening in my country, but I believe it will not bring significant effect to the number of gamblers because there will be always alternative ways for gambler to do online gambling. Here in my country which is strictly against gambling and the government blocks gambling related services by cooperating with ISPs, but the fact is that the number of gamblers is not affected significantly. For me, the best way to reduce gambling addiction is not by limiting the access to gambling websites by giving education/learning center because addiction comes from the gamblers themselves, so even if they have limited access, they will still try to find alternative ways to gamble.

Indeed, though like what you've mentioned it's only the link where ewallets are connected but the reality again, they still open and if the gambler know how to navigate and explore they can still continue to proceed and make their bets happened, though still a good move for the government as there are gamblers who are not that savvy which possible not to bothered to seek for another alternative ways, they'll be good and contented and willing to stop after this learning this news.

Why would be able to make things worst? Now that government had mandated that it would be removed out, then this do signifies that they are that looking into the effects on which that gambling business do make out such impact. They wont be making out any decisions in regarding about removing e-wallets if it wasnt that being connected with addiction. There are on of headlines that lots or tons of filipino lives being that devastated because of these gambling casinos or business towards the country.

Online casino growth surges over 5,500%, fueling suicides, crimes, murders that destroy Pinoy families - Zubiri
https://web.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2025/0814_zubiri1.asp

Basing up on the headline above on which this do shows up about that huge increase about suicides and crimes and other known negative impact about gambling addiction towards the country.
Then it will be just that common sense that they would be that trying out to adjust or making those ultimatum to cut that kind of problem because it will be that making up such noise on which
it will be always that reflecting on them and thats something that they dont want to happen.

It is certain that the government has its own assessment with the policy of removing casinos from electronic wallets to reduce gambling addiction because that way it is too easy for people to play at casinos.

But it seems that this will not significantly reduce addiction they will surely find a way to deposit money into casinos even though it is not as easy as before this is just a step taken by the government to prevent addiction from becoming severe.

Apparently, the situation with the spread of gambling addiction has gotten so out of control that the government needs to take some effective measures. In general, the gaming industry should be regulated by the state in terms of the fact that the poorest segments of the population, who are most at risk of developing gambling addiction, should be protected from themselves (for example, by difficulty of access, increased minimum deposit threshold, etc.)

Why do they need the paternalistic care of the government? They are prone to excessive excitement as a result of insufficient education, as well as straitened financial living conditions.  On the other hand, these measures look like hypocrisy on the part of the government, which itself created and supports poverty in its country... However, so are the governments, and in a broad sense the ruling class, in many other countries.

This has always been a general problem with government in almost every country and nations. They normally shift attention from more pressing issues to less issues affecting the country economically. I believe there are more challenging issues to be addressed by governments than focusing on gambling. Quite alright, gambling addiction is bad and requires a solution but this move is never a solution to addiction but rather a campaign against gambling entirely. This will affect every gamblers whether addict or not and there's no fair play here.

I'm not using e-wallet to deposit, so I'm not affected, but I will be once the government implements a total ban, because there is a strong call from the senate, it's good that the current president knows the many benefits of taxes and the jobs created from gambling.

The blame is on the unregulated marketing of these local casinos, they don't care who will be affected once they place their banners and ads in places where even minors can see, and the general perception brought about by influencers that gambling can change your life for the better, unregulated marketing, and greedy promoters is a bad combination, these made it happen for people to become addicted to gambling, they have beed decived.

Another way to make people think the government are working when they're actually not.

I have a friend working on The Philippines as an admin or might be a scammer for illegal casino, yet The Philippines not banning the illegal casino, instead they remove a way to gamble on legal casino.

They gamble to make them survive because working on low paying jobs aren't enough to meet their need ends. People see gambling as source of income, the main problem are lack of jobs, unfortunately gambling got blamed because people lost their money due to gambling.

If people are earn enough, addiction will be lessen.

I like the Filipino people and their attitude to life because they are quite positive guys. And when I watch the program Philippines guys, they often smile.
You can see from the outside why gambling is so prevalent there. After all, there is a pretty relaxed atmosphere and the population is pretty religious and you can't blame people for believing in God because that is always a good thing.
At the same time, I consider this decision, which the author of the topic wrote about, absolutely unfair and wrong, because it will work the same way as the prohibition law once worked in America, the entire industry will simply be driven underground. And this phenomenon will continue to exist. Only now it will be even more illegal.

The government has the responsibility to protect its citizens from activities which will affect their finances. The people should be shielded from manipulative promotions and fraudulent activities that are associated with gambling. I support them in carrying out their roles.

But they should also be aware that people also make some money from gambling. The sector also employs some people, and it is also some people's business. So as they make these laws, it is important to protect businesses and also consider other positive factors. The government should also engage in enlightenment exercises and reduce poverty.       

You're welcome!
I was one of those people that have believed that it's no longer possible for us to gamble online because Gcash, the e-wallet is very known here in the Philippines. Each individual is still free to gamble online and make use of the wallet through their own personal deposit.

Yes, the president himself said that it has to be more regulated than to be eliminated. Even in the past administration of Duterte, he didn't eliminated it but stopped only the e-sabong(cockfight) but the other gambling games are still allowed because our government earns a lot from the taxes through gambling.

I desire to be enthusiastic about this shift , even so decouple e-wallets from gambling in the Philippines is not just a stretch, it is a veridical safeguard. The BSP's 48 hour pull-the-plug directive is not a craze, it is a backwash to the skyrocketing harm of gambling & indebted household. I can't tell it smoke at any aspect, PAGCOR's responsible gaming programs, such as self exclusion & employee training show that habit is already a legitimate public health problem. If you ask me I think such kind of action after removing in-app links friction might be reduced cuse now you couldn't gamble compulsively. so ultomatly it reduce harm.

It may do good for others but think of the fact that the government can't get money out of it anymore. Do remember, gambling industry is a very huge market where the government can really generate good income from it. I hope the government won't totally ban gambling because it will just pave the way of the emergence of black market. Gambling is innate to humans, so I don't think, they can just discard this activity to their way of life.


The situation became worst because of corruption. If the authorities are really strict with their regulations, it won't come to this worst situation. If they are implementing their gambling protocols to these businesses, I would say, there will be no abusers among these gambling leaders or owners. It seemed that these gambling owners have a hold of the authorities and the authorities are just following the orders of these gambling kings. That's the reality for most corrupt countries, I would say.

It might reduce the rate of new gamblers becoming addicted to gambling but for those who are already addicted, they can not stop unless they get a direct one on one help they will always find an easy comfortable way of making deposits and continuing where they stopped. Some people became addicted because of the easy access of the e-wallet and many will still become addicted because of it but if the service is disabled, I guess it will prevent some upcoming addicts. Just my guess though.

This is a lie, we have E wallet in my country and everyone isn't even using it, I've never seen anyone use the E wallet before here and many gamblers exists here, I don't think this can stop gambling or gambling addiction.

People have gotten used to many ways to move money around and E wallet isn't even close, talk about bank transfer or even crypto wallet, many online casinos are accepting crypto today and if any they are asked which payment solution has the highest user rate it will be crypto wallet transfers.

Let's ask this same question from other gamblers on this forum I am sure that all of them are using crypto to gamble instead of using debit card.

First, this isn’t a lie since it can be read in the news. The situation in your country compared to ours could be different, and just because it doesn’t happen in your country doesn’t mean you can call it a lie.

This isn’t crypto gambling, it’s fiat gambling where people use the popular e-wallet to play. That e-wallet does accept crypto too, but it’s not really popular since fiat is much easier and faster to use.

you have to read the OP carefully.

The government feels that because these e-wallets grant gamblers easy financial access to gambling, it could lead to addiction. Under the proposed law e-wallets will be restricted from linking or redirecting users to online gambling platforms.

What is popular in your location might be strange in another country. I have read about e-wallets like PayMaya, GCash, Grab Pay, and others that are popularly used by gamblers in the Philippines because of the ease of connecting with gambling platforms. You can only speak about your experience in your country and not make general conclusions. 

Legal casinos prohibition or restricting e wallets are not the answer. Individuals resort into gambling primarily due to the fact that people are finding it hard to make ends meet which is perceived as a quick means of escape though it tends to heighten the situation. To curb the issue of addiction, the paying of better wages and improvement of job opportunities by the government should take priority. Once people are able to receive income sufficient to live comfortably, the necessity to resort to gambling as a source of income will decrease automatically. Pointing fingers at gambling and then simply blaming it is simply sweeping the problem under the carpet.

Title is blowing things out of proportion than it should be, as I understand from linked article, it's merely removing casino links from e-wallets, it doesn't really make any difference in lives of people who already gamble but casino may get less new users because the promotion from e-wallet apps will no longer be there.

Most of the affected gambler are those who don’t know how to deposit manually on a casino wallet using the wallet app. Gcash and other wallet app make gambling simple by playing directly through the wallet app or connecting their app to the casino and deposit directly.

The easy access of casino on the wallet app makes online gambling in PH very popular since there’s a lot of none technical people manage to access gambling through simplified access.

It’s guaranteed that online gambling activity my country will decrease since many will stop gambling due to the lack of knowledge on how to deposit in the casino.

This is the umpteenth time that I read from many cases that occurred in the Philippines. Previously, I once said that the government's efforts to prohibit various matters related to gambling would not reduce the number of gamblers or reduce gambling addicts as long as the internet could still be accessed in the country.

So the efforts made such as removing gambling platforms from this electronic wallet will only be in vain because gamblers have many ways to keep gambling. And actually the government is too excessive to force everyone to obey the existing rules forbid gambling but do not provide the best solution.

Politician here is using the gambling issue to gain some popularity to the people since online gambling is trending and cause a lot of problem to many Filipino especially low income people.

Normal Filipino gambler usually not bright when it comes to accessing online website. Even a simple cash in and cash out requires an agent assistance to help gamblers here.

My social media is already has a lot of complaints from affected users. Even some of my relatives plan to stop online gambling already after this news.

If the Philippine government's decision to delete the electronic wallet application that has been easy to use and access to online gamblers in the Philippines, I think this situation will bring Illegal electronic wallet applications in the Philippines, whether the rules can apply and be successful to overcome gambling addiction 100% decisive time.

I have seen other countries doing the same thing, such as: Indonesia to block e-wallets tied to online gambling (https://affpapa.com/indonesia-to-block-e-wallets-tied-to-online-gambling/)

But, on the contrary gamblers in Indonesia continue to increase, the experience I see this method is not perfect, whether in the Philippines it will succeed or not.

So all this is just a nothingburger?


You have to lock this topic or change the first post since it is clearly misleading:


So you don't log in to GCash and fund your betting account, you log in to the betting site and fund your account via GCash.Nothingburger!
It's like saying you can't deposit to betfair directly from paypal, you need to login to Betfair and then fund your account with PayPal.
It's now two taps instead of one, for sure it will stop gambling.

I think this situation is similar happened in my country but it has been done long before this news appeared and the difference is my government only banned the electronic wallet personal who indicated linked to gambling sites and they didn't banned the entirely electronic wallet service and i could says for the gambers E-wallet is very useful because when deposit used this wallet the transaction can be confirmed quickly to the gambling account similar to used crypto

So far what my government has done seems to be in vain because this policy cannot reduce the number of gambling addictions even i have to says the number of addictions has been increasing for each days besides that this move raises new issues because there are some users of E-wallet have complaining those that are not indicated to be connected to gambling sites but they got banning too

Yes the title of the thread sounds like an incident that concerns the health of some gamblers in an accident or something terrible. Anyway I was relieved when I saw that it was government ban on e wallets not to engage in gambling transactions. The move by the Philippine, government is to discourage gambling addiction by cutting off a convenient means of funding gambling accounts nothing more. It's not a problem for serious gamblers, they just have to fund their gambling directly. Banning e wallets alone cannot address the issue of addiction, addicted gamblers won't be restricted by that move. The government needs to tackle the problem of addiction from the root and that is enlightenment about the dangers of addiction..

Just to satisfy the people from these lawmakers. They did put Gcash and commanded together with Maya(another ewallet) to unlink all casino related things inside their platform. Because a user can actually gamble inside of these financial app(e-wallet). So, pretty much that it's a nothingburger and people can still gamble and go to online casinos and still use them personally. And to be specific on the usage, that's how the actuality goes from the lawmakers about their command to these apps. Without understanding the whole context, it looks big news and I thought that it was but upon realizing the whole thing, it's just a move to say that they've done something.

They’ve done something big with this. IIRC, the aggressive marketing only really started when casinos were linked to GCash accounts. That’s because casinos already saw the market, so all they had to do was push advertising to lure more people into gambling. And it was so easy, once you had a balance in your e-wallet, you could gamble right away, unlike before when you had to manually send to the number they gave just to top up your account.

The point is, gambling will still exist, but with this mandate to unlink, there’s going to be a huge effect on revenue.

I’m pretty sure a lot of gamblers will stop, and that will hit the operators hard, but not enough to bankrupt them.

There will be no benefit in opposing where the government is taking action because the government has taken such a decision considering both the good and bad aspects. If gambling can be done by directly transferring money from e-wallets, it will be much easier and because it is much easier, young and old, students, men and women will all participate and quickly become addicted to gambling. I do not oppose the government's action. The government's action is a very good step in the interest of the people. Of course, the government's action will significantly reduce gambling addiction.

Instead of providing its population with decent employment and thus distracting people from gambling, the government comes up with rather stupid restrictions. I believe that such bans are similar in logic to those in other countries. Any ban looks like a formality. People certainly find workarounds; today, they limit the receipt of deposits from e-wallets, explaining that people are losing their money, but what will players do after that? Instead of being able to freely replenish deposits with small amounts, they will increase the amounts, since the methods will be slightly different, and they will reduce the number of deposits, but this will not affect the refusal to gamble.

As I have said before, this is not effective as I can attest that I can still play the games that they have removed in the e-wallet. Simply download their apps on Android or IOS and then register or login with the number that you used in E-wallet. Once you are login in the apps, you can deposit thru the same e-wallet. You can even withdraw and have the money reflect to the e-wallet as well. So unless the government will also ask Google or Apple to not include the Philippines in the region so that no one can download the apps in their store. But how about those who have the apps before? I think it will still function as normal. So if the government wanted to take it out, then they will have to do something more drastic that removing it in Gcash or PayMaya.

It's EFFECTIVE, cause the order was to remove gambling apps/sites from e-wallets, which they did and you are confirming same by saying in latter part of statement.

BTW, thank you for this comment, I was actually looking for someone to write their firsthand experience cause I didn't get much idea from articles.

I agree with this. Criticizing or opposing the government's choices is likely futile, not just in this case, but in other areas as well. The government's choices are indeed good, as they may help reduce the level of gambling addiction in the community. The government isn't blocking access just making it more difficult. So, some people with serious gambling addictions will still find ways to access the games they desire. While this approach is less efficient, it does have its positive side.

This is just the simple truth. The government is chasing shadows, instead of focusing on the real needs of the people. When people don't have jobs, they will seek other means of making money which might include gambling.

Since the Philippines has a high number of Christians especially the Catholics, there are claims that this crackdown on gambling is to please the Church. Politicians know that the support of religious leaders will help them win elections, so they always want to please them.

If e-wallet links are removed from gambling platforms, it will have some effect on ordinary gamblers. But it will not be effective in all cases. Those who are addicted to gambling will never agree to accept any restriction even if they are given it. They will try to manage gambling in any other way. However, the government can control such initiatives to some extent, but it is never possible to control it completely.

If this move stopped the people from Philippines from gambling then they are all not smart people, as if e-wallet is the only way to gamble, OP are you also using e-wallet to gamble? How many people are doing the same on here? I bet many are using Doge, BTC, LTC and few others to gamble.

Laziness is the only thing that can stop them from gambling, maybe they got so used to the e-wallet that they don't want to try anything else, and that's stupid, because this days many casinos are created with using crypto as means of gambling in mind.

Governments shouldn't be able to stop anyone from gambling, unless they are monitoring all users through their phones, anyone should confuse me that this is possible because we have incognito mode and VPN too.

I feel sorry for you, limiting freedom in this way is completely unfair, and i agree with you. i am practically anti-state and i can't stand the government's continued interference, which continues not for the good of the citizen, but for its own good or its own personal gain.

This isn’t really unfair because gambling wasn’t totally banned. What they removed is just the easy access. You can still gamble since payments through e-wallets like GCash are still possible. The only thing gone is the direct links, but if we’re not lazy, there’s always a way to find a site and keep playing.

This can cause problems when gambling on your local casino sites, but you can easily enjoy crypto casinos. Because if you have crypto in a non-custodial wallet, then you can easily make transactions from here without any hassle. If you deposit crypto on a casino site, then in that case, the government of your country will not be able to catch the person who made this transaction. However, if that site is legal in your country and the government of your country takes the activity list of its users from that platform for tax collection, then the government will understand. So you can use no kyc sites in this case.

As Filipino, I knew that the majority of gamblers that using gcash wallet app don’t know how to access the casino directly since the registration process using email gives them a hindrance to register.

I know it’s dumb but that’s what it is for the common Filipino that trying to gamble using e-wallet app. E-wallet make gambling easier for them by just clicking play on the app and they will be redirected on gambling site that already login and they can deposit and withdraw through the e-wallet too since they are connected.

I believe the law just wanted to try to reduce the number of gamblers especially the vulnerable Filipino that is just gambling because they can access it easily. We are on 3rd world country which means many of us is not good on internet technology.

It is even possible that the government will partially take over part of the shadow gambling business after all the official bans. In this way they will be able to appear clean and fluffy in the eyes of the public and at the same time continue to receive all the income from this business.
I am sure that in many countries it works exactly like this, because the government is made up of people who are exactly the same as you and me, they want money at the same time, they don’t want to look guilty.

Government policies are to be respected no doubt but the absence of enforcement makes a rule or policy worthless. In what way do you think the government will reduce the gaming activities in Philippines just by maximizing the deposit limits, which was their previous plan. It'll not work, players will live by it and understand that they'll need a certain amount to play, and sooner, every gamer would be able to deposit then watch over their bankroll to last them a while. Restricting E wallets could help gamers stay responsible, yet, it may not be the best measure to eradicate problem gaming.

Yup, they did something. ;D
Like those pop-ups ads that you have to click yes, I'm over 18 to look at porn!
It for surely stop youngsters from watching porn just how this will stop people from gambling!


I refuse to even ty to understand how a guy using a mobile phone, being able to install and fund that GCash wallet app or whatever, would have trouble installing a casino app.
This is beyond me, sorry!
No idea how this Gcash works, how do you load it without a bank account, does it work like paysafecard that you can buy codes from vending machines?

That's right, gambling is still there and the unlinking is a good step but knowing our fellow countrymen and gamblers, if there's a way, they'll still have to do it manually. While it can discourage a lot to stop if the only wallet they know is Gcash. But if they're explorer and have the will to continue gambling, no one can stop them.

It might stop a lot but once the news blows again that they can still do it manually and there are still ways to bypass that wallet, you know what's gonna happen next.

The government must create benchmarks to assess the success of the gambling restriction policy. Is it successful and effective in reducing the gambling addiction rates, or is the effect only minimal? Rather than banning gambling, it would indeed be better for the government to regulate it. Although it is difficult, once there are more addicted gamblers. With some efforts to implement certain restrictions, better policies could be created in the future.
Casinos will certainly update, and gamblers will also look for other ways. The government must have a surveillance system that continuously keeps up with the changes that occur.

Yes, the government is not completely banning gambling from its country, but the government has taken some decisions from its country so that people do not easily get addicted to gambling and do not push their careers towards complete destruction. For example, it is very easy to participate in gambling directly from e-wallets, and if this system is in force, people will easily deposit money in e-wallets and participate in gambling, which will increase their chances of becoming addicted to gambling many times over. So, considering all aspects, the government has taken such a decision that the decision is quite reasonable.

They are trying their best to do what they can by keeping their citizens in balance. They believe with limited access to gambling platforms, some people will not want to gamble again. How easy it is to access a casino makes it easy for people to gamble. What they just did was to tell gamblers in your country to stop using the e-wallet service and move directly to using the casino if they must, but I believe any gambler that can't control his gambling urge using the e-wallet is also likely to do the same with gambling directly if they are not limited from depositing.

Whether it's to stop gambling permanently or reduce the level of addicted gamblers it's not going to be that easy because you can dictate and control people out of addiction that's not how it works...it might seem like a good approach but soon enough they are going to find out that its not really going to be of much benefit.. The removal of ewallets would slow gamblers down but they will still find a way to gamble

It did not fix anything; the directive of the lawmakers is to take out the link and not to allow withdrawal and deposit. Nobody told these lawmakers that they can still use the same e-wallet  :D :D.

This will stop new people from coming from those e-wallet links, but every casino has its own marketing and recruiting methods, and the e-wallet is just one of them, so everything continues as it is.

These lawmakers should start focusing on making laws that will alleviate the condition of the people, and start investigating ghost flood control projects worth hundreds of billions of pesos. This is a big issue after the recent storms that flooded all the major cities of the country; they are hesitating because some of them are involved in these anomalies.

The government of the country wants the general public to not be able to easily join the casino, which is why they have given restrictions. This same formula will not work for everyone. There is no way to stop experienced gamblers from doing anything like that. Governments can stop the most ordinary gamblers, but it is not a long-term and reliable solution.

No one will be stopped when the desired is to continue playing, a gambler that's already addicted will find ways to gamble, what will help here is those who only used their ewallets as after realizing that there's no more access or it won't allow them to deposit directly, they'll move forward and forget about it, but like your statement if the intention is continuously playing, a gambler will always find ways to do it.

You can still play the game no problem but it will no longer be through the e-wallets so there’s less ways to play the game and it will not be as accessible for some. But it’s still there because the games weren’t banned or anything.

Just came across a Facebook post and saw in the comment section that depositing through e-wallets is still available. I don’t know if it’s true since I don’t really play there. So, they only removed the gambling option in their app, but you can still use their e-wallets for gambling. If that’s true, then what they did was just remove the easy access. It’s like in seating arrangements, from one seat apart to two seats apart. Lol. Those who play in PH local online casinos, can you guys confirm this?

And it is being done by our fellow countryment that are addicted to gambling. They won't just stop even if the removal of gambling sites and connection to Gcash has been done. And it won't even happen if the senate didn't give them a warning and due date of when they should remove it. Kudos to them for making Gcash do its thing when it should have been done long time ago with the impact that many of the illegal online casinos being patronized by our countrymen. They're pushing to gamble only on registered trademark. And some can prove that anyone who wants to gamble can still gamble but might not go through the ewallet, maybe ebanking.

Of course, education will have a crucial role if the government really focuses on it. The education can covers the gamblers and the non gamblers. So, everyone can understand how to treat gambling in the right way. The gamblers can change their perspective, so they won't misunderstand anymore about gambling. I see many gamblers who assume gambling is an instant way to get money. This is a misconception, it is not easy to get money in gambling because it purely relies on the luck. This misconception can be changed through education problem provided by the government. I'm also very sure the addiction cases can be reduced if most people know well how to gamble in a proper way.

This will depend on the quality and the nature of the government. If the government has good quality and has the intention to change the situation, they will actually enforce the proper rules.

They seek help to relatives and friends that do have some knowledge on  technology. We have a lot of rural places here that is not literate enough on technology since Philippines is composed of thousand island so many people still living in old setup. Their relatives is not always available to help though.

Gcash makes gambling easier because you just need to click play on the app and they will automatically redirect to the casino and play.

These people can’t gamble on their own if they will need to login directly on the casino website because it’s already too complicated for them.

Using the gcash app, you will just need to top-up your wallet through local store or agent then open app and click play. That’s it.

Same with withdrawal of funds. They just need to send the gcash balance on the local store/agent and get the cash minus the fee.


You can load it through local store or agent. The store/agent will sent the balance on your account then you will pay in cash.

It’s like online bank transfer. It’s just more convenient since many people doing business on it by charging fees on each transfer. Both cash in or cash out to fiat is supported.

But the main point of the government removing it in those e-wallets is to really curb out or minimized gambling. But there are no difference at all, download the apps->register->used the e-wallet to deposit or withdraw. So it's not effective as what the government thinks, they only removed it inside the e-wallet but still allowed it used outside of it. And the Central Bank of the Philippines says it's just temporary, so everything goes here right now. Everyone in the streets can still gamble online and get addicted to the game of "scatter", in which millions of Filipinos have been playing legal or illegal.

You should be surprised how many people there are in developing countries, like mine, how have a quite good phone with android and yet, they don't know what an apk is and don't know how to install applications from outside of the official stores, which is fairly easy.
There are even people who have an Android phone and they do not go beyond using it for WhatsApp, Telegram, calls and messages (perhaps as well some occasional game).
That is the bulk of people who have an Android phone in developing countries, specially in rural areas. I would not be surprised most of them did not even know how to operate an email.

So it is perfectly possible there are many folks in the Philippines who will stop gambling because of these mild restrictions between casinos and e-wallets in the countries. Still, those who really want to continue gambling won't get stopped by measures like these ones, and they willg etc out their way to continue, that's for sure.

They don't need to assessed because it's already worsening in their country. And what will be the benchmark looks like when everyone is hook to gambling already. What they really need to do is like this policy but it involves more than that as the entity behind Gcash are oligarchs as far as I understand it.

So it's very hard even if the Senate are going to held them responsible for the proliferation of gambling and decaying of the country itself. The government needs a teeth to attack this powerful entity and stop gambling. But I see that someone was still able to play using downloaded apps? So what is the purpose of this supposedly removing gambling from e-wallets when they can still fund their gambling using them?

Sounds good when hearing that it will be removed from every ewallets link but it's reality where a gambler can easily download the app and find options where they can deposit and withdraw their money, every gamblers who desire to play can find alternative ways and just how you mentioned that it's a temporal action and there's a chance that there's changes that may happen along the way.

Well, this changes a bit, if the app can't be directly installed from googleplay then yeah, the roundabout would indeed turn off a lot of people, but I never assumed that was the case!


I can already see those agents charge a small fee to set you up with a casino account.
But yeah, it's not really that different than what we have here in some parts of Europe where you can simply go to an automated teller machine, buy a 16 digit code for a gambling site and just insert that in your account or pay with an intermediary PSC.

I meant that's exactly what order was for — i.e, remove gambling apps access from e-wallets. What is written op is blown out of proportion, so don't look from pov of that, but actual news.

Edit: I meant word 'effective' as in order was effective and e-wallets removed gambling apps access, I didn't meant 'effective' word as in this order helped minimize gambling.

Well it sounds like the Philippine government is just making excuses and looking for convenient scapegoats...

I do not have much knowledge about the entire system in the Philippines but I know that E-Wallets cannot be held responsible since there are various ways that a person can gamble, even without using them.

But since we are mostly gambling with cryptocurrency, does it really matter that E-Wallets are being phased out from the casino platforms?

I’ve read the news and even watched the Senate inquiry on this issue. In my view, the restrictions may help reduce the number of people falling into gambling addiction, simply because it’s no longer as convenient as it once was. However, I hope the government realizes that this is only a short-term fix and not a comprehensive solution to the deeper problem of gambling addiction in our country. Hardcore gamblers will always find a way, many may turn to illegal betting sites just to satisfy their urge. In that scenario, the government loses twice: not only does it fail to curb addiction, but it also misses out on potential tax revenue from these underground platforms.

What the government is doing will only reduce the number of gamblers, and this is because many people hate going through stress for something which isn't as important, many who were casual gamblers will turn away from gambling for sure, and like you said, hardcore gamblers will find a way to still keep gambling even though it no longer as convenient as it used to be, the government to new policy on gambling can only reduce gambling addiction because many are likely not going to be gambling any more and all of this people were all potential gambling addicts.

And speaking of tax, even right now that the government have cut off the easy way through which gamblers access and deposit money to their favorite casinos for gambling, will they(the government) still be expecting this gamblers to pay tax? Isn't it absurd somehow to still be expecting tax from people you've blocked their easy access to potential money, causing them to have to find a not so convenient way of still accessing the potential money?

Potential money here is the casino.

It might not be convenient for those who are not technically inclined, but still they can reach out to someone and help them play again. So I have said, Filipinos can still continue to play and gamble. But I heard on the news that the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), are looking at the online access right now and monitoring everything.

Maybe that will be the next move by the government, perhaps they will block the online apps and their website so that there will 0 access for us. But who knows, we all know that gamblers are very resilient and could have found a go-around and circumvent this directives and still gamble any time they want.

Exactly, it is just like flexing their muscle here, trying to show people that they have do something good. But it's like for short term only as it can be accessed by the public, then gambling will still continue despite what BSP ordered for the e-wallets.

So I'm seeing that the e-wallets are still not being affected by the order. It might be just lessening the players. But once those gamblers knows that it can still be accessed by them then they might do it. And worst as you picture it, they might turn into illegal betting sites and the government can't stop them.

Lessening the number of gamblers is a good start, but there will always be people who can’t really afford it yet still insist on gambling. That’s why I think the next move should be to raise the minimum deposit.

Right now, you can deposit for as low as $2, which is super cheap and honestly even kids could afford that. If they bump it up to at least $10, that alone could already discourage a lot of people who shouldn’t be gambling in the first place.

You have the whole time to enjoy it, teh  gambling platform was remove in Ewallets which is a must. But the gambling and online casino is not pinned down nor decrese.
It is just 1 gateway to play and nothing change.





Ewallets making the life of anyone who have their app to gamble even minors can access. BUT still theres no help in stopping Filipinos in gambling. You can play through the apps but those gambling site have htier own sites and links which you can visit and they already adjusted for the mandate, I received the message  that you can sig in on their website if you were playing on MAYA/GCASH and use your number as your username.




It will be worse as governement will not take down the gambling platform and websites!
MAYA and GCASH is just a loading station, a wallet to use but the game is not operated by them.

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Therefore, IT IS NOT A SAD DAY for gamblers! NOYPI will make a way to gamble as long as they can.
BIG SHOUT OUT! Bingo PLUS, top gambling platform online in the Philippines is owned by a POLITICIAN FAMILY.
GOV and CONG :)

If being addicted to gambling has reached the ears of government and they think by removing gambling totally in the country is the best solution, probably the government will be worsting the situation currently in the country because gambling is seen to fun to those that love football, and not being addicted to gambling, assuming the government is talking about removing any gambling hall that is permitted by the government, it could be more preferable then removing the what is helping so many youths and also preventing the youths from committing crimes.

They are doing what they think is right, well it can help partially but there are still various ways in which people can still continue gambling even without the e-wallet linking to casinos and from what I said before, people that are already addicted to gambling will not change their ways unless they get a direct help to do so. Also the reason for the gambling problems there is because the people are seeking for means to make a living, if the government can help provide jobs or great support and empowerment to the people, that might divert their attention from gambling.

A difficult situation with money in life pushes many people to start thinking outside the box and looking for some non-standard, but nevertheless the most effective ways to earn money.
If such ways turn out to be gambling or betting, then this is absolutely wrong, because in these activities, although there is a chance of a lot of money, but nevertheless the inflow of money from them is absolutely unstable and you cannot count on it.
I will even say more that in families with children, counting on money that will be received from gambling is an absolutely crazy thing to do, because it will be impossible to explain to the child later that “fortune is simply not on our side today, and therefore our dinner table is empty.”

In fact, one of the biggest problems in the world ever is prohibitionism. When the state exercises a form of power over the people, they organize themselves and create a mess. History teaches us that they can't do this. If people want to bet, they will do it in the black markets, and the one who loses there is the state itself, so rest assured, they won't be able to do anything.

Agree to that so not everyone can easily access and gamble, if there's a minimum amount that's not affordable then it lessen the gambler that will access the site, everything that may help to cut the numbers of possible users can bring weight in combating this gambling participation, the government should continue to pursue to whatever prohibitation that they can apply to limit that numbers as we know that there are so many gamblers now that can easily access gambling site which is connected to their ewallets, good thing that the government already took action on it.

There are not more than 10% of gamblers that have become rich through gambling and it is even worse to see that someone with children is depending on gambling as their source of income. First, it's not every time the man will win his games and be able to raise money to provide for the kids needs.

I’d like to share my personal experience. Ever since the gambling site links were removed, my gambling activity has gone down. I’m assuming the same happened to other gamblers since they no longer see the option directly from their GCash wallet.

The order may have caused a significant drop in casino operations in the country, but it didn’t kill the business. I believe they’re still running profitably and their market will eventually grow again. Also, aside from that news, I haven’t really seen a lot of gambling ads on Meta from vloggers anymore. Even the legal casinos, I don’t see them advertise much now, probably they stopped too, out of fear their accounts might get ban.

Same here, I only play on local casino because I see it always on the app but right now there’s no point on playing again there since I don’t remember visiting the website instead I use my favorite crypto casino that offers much better VIP benefits that local casino such as bingoplus.

Honestly, local casino has worst promotion because it gives small rewards and at the same time with hard wagering requirements.

Overall, the effect of this law is good.

It’s not really a way to ban gambling, more like just a way to minimize it. And I think they’re done with gambling regulations for now since the discussion has shifted to a bigger issue which is the massive corruption in the flood control projects.

Can’t wait for the hearing to resume, I heard it will be this coming Tuesday since tomorrow is a holiday.

They shifted it out to another issue just the same with the missing sabungeros which is now being quite and seems that the witnesses are now being sue by the other parties, though ewallets already implemented the total removal of any casino games from their application but if the gamblers do have deeper understanding, they can simply download the casino apps and still be able to play.

Just go to the website, scan the QR code, and that’s it.. your money is in the casino wallet already. I think the ads are more of a trigger for people to gamble than the link in the e-wallet. Without them showing off how gambling can “change your life” by flaunting the money they win, people wouldn’t be as enticed.

Nothing wrong with advertisements, but they should be properly regulated. They shouldn’t just show the rewards, they should also show the risks of gambling.

It’s good because they should know that economically, gambling has some benefits to it and banning it completely would not be the best idea. At least they were able to find a middle ground limiting gambling while still receiving its benefits.

Yeah, I do not encourage any country where gambling had or has been existing to ban it completely in cases where addiction to the game starts to grow rapidly, the government can indeed find a middle ground where they can limit the access to the games just exactly the same thing the government of Philippines have done, this will enable the government still be benefiting from gambling in the form of tax that is payed to them from the casinos operating within and maybe outside the country.

But in times where the case of addiction becomes extreme and the only solution is to ban gambling completely, it will be so very insensitive for anybody or even the government to be talking about the benefits or what they benefit from gambling at such a time, for there are no benefits gambling can offer that is worth much more than the life of the citizens that is being destroyed and that the government of the country is solely responsible for.