Catholic bishops against gambling: Philippine Church calls for total ban on online gambling

The Philippine Catholic Church has once again spoken out in favor of a total ban on online gambling, as The Inquirer reported. They say it causes significant social harm, despite the government’s claim that it contributes to the economy.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), spoke at a conference on new evangelization in Manila. He said that the chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), Alejandro Tengco, recently responded to the CBCP’s pastoral letter of July 7. Tengco provided a detailed argument emphasizing the significant revenues generated by online gambling.

According to Pagcor, this sector generates more than 100 billion Philippine pesos, supporting government programs and providing jobs for more than 30,000 people. However, Cardinal David criticized this reasoning, comparing it to justifying harmful activities for the sake of profit. 

“You might as well legalize other forms of addiction,” he said.

David called online gambling “modern slavery” and compared its addiction to social media addiction, which undermines social ties and mental well-being. He doubts that regulatory measures can prevent tech-savvy youth from accessing gambling platforms. In his opinion, such measures are insufficient.

Although President Marcos has not yet announced his position, regulators and private sector representatives, including GCash, Maya, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, have begun to implement stricter controls on transactions and advertising campaigns related to gambling. Meanwhile, several lawmakers have introduced bills aimed at regulating or completely banning online gambling.

Another issue that lawmakers often fail to consider is that “banning” something does not eliminate the activity, but simply forces it underground, which does nothing to solve the practical and moral problems they are trying to address.