go through Aubrey Rose A. Inosante and Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, reporter
The Philippines government is fraudTo thoroughly reform Online gambling Operators, including Mandatory stock exchange listing and increased taxes to tighten supervision and reduce the social costs of gambling addiction.
Finance Minister Ralph G. Recto said the Ministry of Finance is proposing new taxes and licensing fees for digital gaming companies, supported by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
“We can force them to list so we know who the person behind it is,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It becomes more transparent.”
If implemented, the move would place online gaming platforms in similar public reviews, such as Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and Digiplus Interactive Corp., which operate Arenaplus, Bingoplus and GameZone.
Philippine Entertainment and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) charges 30% interest rates from video gaming platforms, while the Internal Revenue Agency imposes an additional 5% franchise tax and a 3% audit fee The total effective efficiency is about 38%.
“We may improve this further,” Mr Recto said, suggesting greater efforts have been made to increase government revenue and unregulated gambling.
Earlier this year, Pagcor lowered the exchange rate for video games from 35% to 30%, and reduced the exchange rate for video games in integrated resorts to 25%, citing the operating expenses of physical venues. Despite these adjustments, illegal games are still rampant.
Mr Recto said about 60% of the gaming market operates illegally. “The loss of income from unincome could be about 500 billion pesos, because that P200 billion pesos [in gross gaming revenue] It’s legal,” he said.
Overall gaming revenue (GGR) is expected to exceed P200 billion this year.
The finance chief added that the government is also looking at whether to tax individual bets online, although taxation GGR may be easier to implement. “We have added [tax] What to use? 10%? That was 20 billion Philippine pesos a year. ” he said.
Analysts welcomed the proposal to require online gaming companies to be made public, citing increased governance and transparency, but said it could squeeze out smaller players.
“Many small players may find compliance with the requirements and strict challenges of becoming a public company, so this may have the impact of favoring large gaming companies,” said Juan Paolo E. Colet, managing director of Bank of China Capital Corp., in a Viber message.
Calixto V. Chikiamco, president of the Economic Freedom Foundation, notes that while transparency is desirable, it may be poorfIcult requires all companies to be disclosed.
“Some people may want to stay private,” he said, adding that a viable strategy might be to tax transactions through digital wallets like Gcash.
Minister of Economic Planning Arsenio M. Balisacan also expressed support for online games and their participants to impose taxes, saying e-paper transaction monitoring could help collect taxes.
John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior researcher at the Philippine Development Institute, said that mandatory listing could also increase competition. “New entrants with strong digital platforms may attract investor interest and market share.”
Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Capital Development Corp. in Regina, said entry into more online gaming platforms could present challenges, but could also attract institutional investment and improve legitimacy.
Mr Recto also clarified that the government has not considered a full ban despite President Marcos’ previous order for Philippine offshore game operators to phase out.
“black market”
“I don’t think it should be banned,” the head of finance said. “I think more regulations and higher taxes are enough. Hopefully, the number of players will be reduced in this way.”
He said a recent meeting was held at the Presidential Palace to address the spread of online lotto platforms, rather than AFfTogether with Philippine charities Lottery office.
Mr Recto hinted that further details of the online game reform plan could be revealed in the president’s national address on July 28.
Meanwhile, Digiplus urges lawmakers to regulate rather than a thorough ban.
“Experience from other countries shows that banning licensing platforms does not eliminate the need for online gaming, but simply transfer users to an unregulated black market,” it said in a statement Wednesday night.
The company says a regulated market can protect players, generate billions of dollars in revenue and provide more than 40,000 jobs for technology, marketing, entertainment, customer service and compliance.
In the context of regulatory uncertainty, Digiplus’ stock fell 30% or P8.36 to P19.54 per week.
Eusebio H. Tanco, chairman of the company, said Digiplus supports the “Smart and Balance” regulations. “We believe regulations are the way to seek player protection. It is the only way to maintain players, retain jobs and close illegal underground platforms without any oversight,” he said.
Mr Tanko said the company is ready to work with lawmakers and regulators to make the Philippines a “model of safe, transparent online gaming in Asia”.
Digiplus said it has used strict knowledge customer verification, including government ID checks and age groups, as well as responsible gaming tools such as deposit restrictions, self-exclusion and cooling.
Upcoming features include enhanced affordability checks, behavioral drives, and recommended pathways for mental health professionals. Support space and responsible gaming content from the in-app community will also be introduced on the platform this month.
“These measures are not a response to regulatory pressure, but part of a multi-year strategy to build a responsible gaming ecosystem,” Digiplus said.
It added that it supports the latest legislation that imposes tougher penalties on illegal operators and has set clearer standards for advertising in the digital gaming industry.
