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Filipinos Are Addicted to Online Gambling. So Is Their Government (msn.com)

(Wednesday October 01, 2025 @05:20PM (msmash) from the revenue-over-lives dept.)


The Philippines became Asia's second-largest gambling hub after Macau last year as online betting proliferated across the archipelagic nation. Almost half of the country's 69 million working-age population is now registered on gambling apps, an exponential rise from less than half a million users in 2018. The government has become [1]increasingly dependent on the industry .

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. collects 30% of gross gaming revenue and has become the second-biggest revenue contributor among state-run companies after Land Bank of the Philippines. Revenue from online casino license fees is projected to reach $1 billion in 2025. More than 60 operators are regulated by the government.

Industry revenue almost tripled in 2024 from 2023 to 154.5 billion pesos. Revenue from internet betting eclipsed physical casinos for the first time this year. The central bank recently ordered e-wallets to remove links to betting sites, halving bets within days. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected calls for a complete ban and said outlawing online betting would only spawn illicit operations that would be more difficult to eradicate.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/filipinos-are-addicted-to-online-gambling-so-is-their-government/ar-AA1MzFxz


Regressive (Score:2)

by battingly ( 5065477 )

30%? It's already the most regressive tax known to mankind. But wadda ya gonna do? People want to gamble.

Re: (Score:2)

by Retired Chemist ( 5039029 )

Most of the state lotteries in the US, take about 50%.

Re: (Score:2)

by packrat0x ( 798359 )

> Most of the state lotteries in the US, take about 50%.

Before the State Lottery, South Florida "numbers" games had a 90% payout.

And the voters were promised that the revenue would be added to school funding (not replacing general revenue). The lottery folks lied.

Starting to look enticing (Score:1)

by Tablizer ( 95088 )

I hear Elon will be selling Armageddon insurance from an office on Mars. The internet is breaking Earth.

Re: (Score:2)

by nightflameauto ( 6607976 )

> I hear Elon will be selling Armageddon insurance from an office on Mars. The internet is breaking Earth.

The Earth will be fine. Though the internet is breaking humanity. And possibly the current form of the biosphere, though I suspect there will be some form of life left. Earth's been through some pretty major biosphere shenanigans over the eons, and nothing has ridded it of the film of life that seems to cling to it through thick and thin. I further suspect that will remain true to some degree until such time as the sun expands to engulf the entire planet and scours the surface clean. Even then it will likel

Re: (Score:1)

by rezoG ( 10502584 )

> It's a menace to society; risk-taking behavior, gambling debt, and the association of desperate individual in seedy venues. May be no less than drugs, and less taboo too. Prohibit large profiteering venues, and discourage the practice.

So ban it. (Score:0) by Anonymous Coward on 2025-10-01 17:28 (#65696532) It's a menace to society; risk-taking behavior, gambling debt, and the association of desperate individual in seedy venues. May be no less than drugs, and less taboo too. Prohibit large profiteering venues, and discourage the practice.

And so is every US state government (Score:2)

by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 )

> Filipinos Are Addicted to Online Gambling. So Is Their Government

And so is every US state government. Ever heard of the lottery?

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