Philippines banning gambling ads?

[Russlenat]

A Senate bill wants a nationwide ban on online gambling ads across all media platforms, so that probably means TV, social media and other online platforms.

So what's really happening in the Philippines now? They make the problem worse first before making this kind of measure. I wonder if it's just for show because it's not really preventing the problem, it's more like showing that they are doing their job to protect people even though the damage has already been done.

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

[Charles-Tim]

They said it will help Filipinos against gambling addiction. The Bill as not yet been signed, but if it is sign, maybe it might reduce gambling exposure, but I do not think it will reduce gambling exposure in countries that people are gambling very well already. They can easily pass gambling information among themselves from friends to friends. But this might affect some gambling sites, especially the upcoming ones.

[Swordsoffreedom]

will it pass or not, it's hard to say for sure right now. What is more interesting to me is how much enforceable law they can ultimately create. Because it is easy to write nationwide ban on paper but it's much harder to monitor thousand of website, app, affiliate and social media promotion.

But I agree with your point that simply blocking ads won't make gambling problem disappear. Even if an addicted gambler doesn't have Facebook ad in front of him but he can find platform through offshore site, affiliate or other channel. So if they really want to reduce problem, they need age verification, self exclusion and enforcement against illegal operator.

[Perfectbaby]

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

To me I do not see it as something too late because even though there are others who already fallen a victim of gambling addiction, the prevention could help those who are yet to start gambling or having interest to start gambling. It is not actually that easy to entirely eliminate gambling adverts across all the social media platforms, and even though there is a restriction there could be some people who are accessing the internet or gambling site with VPN which could allow them to have full access to everything on the internet.

[avp2306]

A Senate bill wants a nationwide ban on online gambling ads across all media platforms, so that probably means TV, social media and other online platforms.

So what's really happening in the Philippines now? They make the problem worse first before making this kind of measure. I wonder if it's just for show because it's not really preventing the problem, it's more like showing that they are doing their job to protect people even though the damage has already been done.

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

But they are actually banning those illegal casinos right?

I found this sites discussing on how government banned those illegal offshore casinos.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-cracks-down-illegal-offshore-gambling-firms-2024-06-13/
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/crime/philippines-to-ban-online-gambling-4773546.html
https://www.casino.org/news/complete-online-gambling-ban-on-the-table-in-new-legislation-in-the-philippines/

They are talking about possible banning of online casinos and yet it didn't happened. It seems there's a strong force stopping it and maybe they are just using that banning word to gain traction and try to impress people then show that they are doing something with those illegal online casinos.

[Sanitough]

Of course it will pass, but the question is will they be able to implement the law effectively? Because passing a law in the Philippines is not really the issue, it's the implementation.

Different administrations may also have a different approach to this since the gambling industry contributes a lot in taxes. But sadly gambling addiction has already destroyed the lives of some Filipinos. So maybe it's already late, but as long as it gets passed and implemented properly, I think there's still a little hope that it can help.

[Localhostspeed]

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

If the people that support the motion are the majority leaders in the senate, the bill is going to stand but if it's minority leaders, then the bill will be rejected especially if there are people with high interest of gambling among them. I have not seen a country that aggressively ban gambling like this Philippine, the last time they banned people on this from from that region because of some casino that are advertised on this great forum, they don't like gambling.

Whats the percentage of gamblers in that country that they are so aggressive with the things they are doing. The government still need to address the root of the problem, they need to check why their citizens like gambling, they need to address unemployment. Even in Nigeria, we are facing the same problem. There is high gambling interest in Nigeria but never for one day the government want to ban gambling ads, they generate massive amount of money from this ads.

[Dunamisx]

This is government and as long as the majority of the house accepted such bill to be passed and signed, then there is nothing the people can do about it than to accept their fate and see gambling being banned in Philippine, I learned that one of the reasons to where he wanted this done is because of the exposure it gives to children having access to gambling advertisements in all forms and it's has been considered as part of the effort to ensure this is being mitigated, it is up to them, but gambling in general cannot be deleted from people's mind to do.

[Accardo]

To me I do not see it as something too late because even though there are others who already fallen a victim of gambling addiction, the prevention could help those who are yet to start gambling or having interest to start gambling. It is not actually that easy to entirely eliminate gambling adverts across all the social media platforms, and even though there is a restriction there could be some people who are accessing the internet or gambling site with VPN which could allow them to have full access to everything on the internet.

This is probably what Senator Chiz is looking at achieving with the bill, he's offering gambling education and a rule to curb gambling addiction amongst young people. It's like what Philippine did with the 2003 Tobacco regulation act that restricted underaged smokers from buying tobacco. With the health benefits in this bill, the act is very close to getting signed into law.

[Sticky Bomb]

They said it will help Filipinos against gambling addiction. The Bill as not yet been signed, but if it is sign, maybe it might reduce gambling exposure, but I do not think it will reduce gambling exposure in countries that people are gambling very well already. They can easily pass gambling information among themselves from friends to friends.

When visual ads and promotions is reduced or totally removed there would be positive results because the triggers are absent, the constant reminders and motivation to gamble would gradually decrease, which helps especially minors from being influenced by what they see. This is the first step, there needs to be more policies that makes it harder for minors to access gambling.

But this might affect some gambling sites, especially the upcoming ones.

The social and mental health effect of gambling addiction is Philippines is getting out of hand. I support the control measures. But as a corrupt and developing third world country, I know that interests would downplay the relevance of such an important bill, so I'm not even casting much hope on it being signed into law

[Pandu Geddon]

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

In a country where gambling is banned, we can still see indirect promotional ads in short videos on social media. They also have groups on Telegram and WhatsApp with quite a lot of followers. 
This happens with modern gambling. Not to mention traditional gambling like cockfighting, which also has a huge number of fans. The Philippines also has its own cockfighting, which some people even consider a tradition. They limit ads, but still want taxes?

[Sim_card]

Of course, it will limit the exposure of the underage from gambling because social media ads have helped the casinos to recruit underage people in gambling. As for the ones that are already gambling, it wouldn't have any effect on them because it's their decision to stop gambling or not. Phillipne government is trying their best to see how they can limit gambling in the country.

[DanWalker]

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.
So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

I think this whole thing is nothing but After death, the doctor type situation. Other hand it could be a cheap political stunt.

I dont know much about the situation but, in my opinion it may pass, because political leaders now need something like heroic sentence to keep public sentiment cool.

And they could ban ads on TV & their official social media pages. But how will they stop illegal betting site and VPN and underground promotion, IDK!

Another thing is, if they increase the restrictions on licensed companies then black market will only get stronger for sure.

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

In most countries, it is banned on paper but in reality it is an open secret.

[Showlove01]

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

To me I do not see it as something too late because even though there are others who already fallen a victim of gambling addiction, the prevention could help those who are yet to start gambling or having interest to start gambling. It is not actually that easy to entirely eliminate gambling adverts across all the social media platforms, and even though there is a restriction there could be some people who are accessing the internet or gambling site with VPN which could allow them to have full access to everything on the internet.

Something can never be late as long as someone is alive but it can only be late if they are dead and talking about prevention, they can not totally prevent people from gambling but they can reduce the rate of gambling because someone who is addicted to gambling will always find a way to gamble even though they are restricted from gambling but those who are not addicted can either decide to stop from there since it will take them time to access the casinos using VPN.

[fruktik]

I think banning advertising is pointless. A ban might work, but it would be a drop in the ocean. It would have virtually no impact. All social media is clogged with this advertising, and no one can do anything about it.

The Philippine government pretends to care about its citizens, but that's far from the truth. Officials don't care about the people or their problems. They're only concerned with one thing: getting rich. Anything else is a dead end.

[stadus]

Of course, it will limit the exposure of the underage from gambling because social media ads have helped the casinos to recruit underage people in gambling. As for the ones that are already gambling, it wouldn't have any effect on them because it's their decision to stop gambling or not. Phillipne government is trying their best to see how they can limit gambling in the country.

If underage gambling is the only thing they want to solve, then the bigger problem will still be there. The real situation is that people who are already in poverty are gambling because they think it can solve their problems, which is really a bad mindset.

And look at what's happening there, drug addiction is already rampant and some of those drug addicts are also addicted to gambling. You can see how huge the problem really is, and only now they are starting to realize it.

And we're not even sure yet if this will actually be approved.  

[Yablee0]

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

Although it might seem late for those that are already messed up in addiction and stuff like that, but it could be a preventative measure for those that aren't yet or having plans of venturing into gambling. However, it can reduce the rate of younger people that want to start gaming because I can't say it will stop it completely.  Again, sometimes most of all all this (ban) usually play no significant role in a society because don't be surprised that even after implementing the ban it might still change nothing since people's ( gamblers) can always find every possible way out  in situations like this especially when most of them are addicted.

[Africolo]

A Senate bill wants a nationwide ban on online gambling ads across all media platforms, so that probably means TV, social media and other online platforms.

So what's really happening in the Philippines now? They make the problem worse first before making this kind of measure. I wonder if it's just for show because it's not really preventing the problem, it's more like showing that they are doing their job to protect people even though the damage has already been done.

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.

So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

I think the government of Philippines are trying to stop gambling addictions that why they are asking for the ads to be banned and in such a way this will literally help some gamblers to limit their addictions or the upcoming gamblers who might have been lure by the ads they see online and wants to start gambling, honestly  advertising gambling winnings and platforms has aided alot of people to becoming addicts because they will always want to try the new odds and platforms advertised.

Even as much as the ads will be banned from TVs, Social media and every other platforms it still won't stop gambling because those that have been gambling in Philippine will still continue to do so, the bill that is passed is not too late and anytime such is done is always the right time as we have thousands of people who are intended gamblers but just waiting for the opportunity to kickstart and seeing some ads triggers their desire to engage in it and I feel they just want to limit addictions that's why the bill is pass for ads to be banned.

[Fiatless]

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero,
So do you think this will actually pass or is it already too late?

You can also share what is happening in your country if you have a similar situation.

We cannot conclude whether the bill will be passed or not. The bill will have to go through the normal legislative processes, which include going through the committee hearings, floor debates, harmonisation, and approval by the president. Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero wants the Philippines to be one of the strictest countries when it comes to gambling advertisements.

In my country, gambling ads are not regulated. It is common to see celebrities and others promote casinos in a manner that can lead to addiction. Some of them advertise the activity as a get-rich-quick game. But I think the Philippine senator is going too far.

[free-bit.co.in]

And to think this is still just a bill. If there are powerful people supporting big casino operators, then maybe it will not be that easy to pass.

Reading the news in the link you provided, I could see Escudero is comparing it to Tobacco Control Act,  . But it seems important to me. Because you may know that tobacco advertising ban was actually implemented and still exists all over the world. So it is not completely novel or unrealistic model, imo. So it seems to me that it can be passed.

I wonder if it's just for show because it's not really preventing the problem, it's more like showing that they are doing their job to protect people even though the damage has already been done.

It does not seem like show to me at all. I looked at the details of the bill by searching, and they have provided fines of up to $8K for violators, imprisonment of up to three years and revocation of licenses for repeated violations. They also gave operators a one-year grace period to remove existing advertising. Looking at these, I think they have designed the bill with realistic implementation in mind.