Like many other countries, the Philippines are no exception in enjoying the best online casino experience. Several laws have been reviewed to govern each casino and protect Filipino players. In detail, the government introduced PAGCOR, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to regulate the industry and provide online services for Philippine players.
Through the years, necessities have been added to ensure legal gambling in the Philippines meets the best. Now players from the region can select the best Philippine online casino and start betting with real money. This service is legit and operates under the governmental laws guiding legal and fair gambling for Philippine players.
As we continue this review, we will unravel the gambling laws, history, and reasons for some unexpected restrictions and legalities. This overview will explain the historical figures and gambling law Philippines. If you need to know about the legal issues of gambling, especially the online version for the Philippines, read on.
Legalization of gambling in the Philippines
The legalization of gambling in the Philippines is rigid. This results from establishing multiple licenses and regulations defining legal gambling in the region. During the mid-1970s, President Ferdinand Marcos billed Decree No. 1097, creating PAGCOR to regulate the industry. PAGCOR is a government authority established to expand the industry, legalizing and directing the casinos to fund various infrastructures.
In addition, several casinos have directly been affiliated with PAGCOR, where the authority owns more than 50 gambling services. Seeing how the Filipino laws are indeed overseeing the industry, there are now numerous opportunities for citizens there to gamble online. Here, players get the chance to access legit online casinos. However, there are several illegal betting activities concerned with these online services.
So, what is illegal gambling in the Philippines? With all the conclusive laws guiding Filipino players, an exception is considered illegal in the Philippines. This exception states how Filipino-based casinos cannot offer their services to residents. On the better side, these players have access to legit online casinos Philippines as long as the platform is licensed by their local agencies, like the PAGCOR online gaming.
Filipino law agencies for online gambling
Like other regions, the Philippines established several gambling authorities to license, manage, and regulate online gambling. One of which is the PAGCOR license online gaming authority, responsible for licensing any game and providing infrastructure funds. Most online games banned in Philippines are the work of this authority.
There are also more law agencies representing Filipinos regarding gambling, both online and physically. Without further ado, some of these agencies include;
PAGCOR
PAGCOR is a full-time Filipino government-owned corporation that authorizes and licenses any gambling game. In short, PAGCOR licenses online gaming for the Philippines. Additionally, they use this to generate revenue for various governmental infrastructures, including developmental programs in the Philippines.
FCLRC
First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corporation, FCLRC, is an organization that sets rules and regulations to provide employment and income for the Metropolis of Santa Ana. This organization works with other corporations to forward a reputable country through gambling services.
GAB
GAB, Games and Amusements Board, is another main board that oversees sports betting and prevents illegal gambling in the Philippines. This board works best to prevent any form of illegalities involved with gambling in the country.
History/breakdown of gambling laws in the Philippines
1975 was a breakthrough for Filipinos as President Ferdinand Marcos introduced gambling laws by signing the first decree. Decree No. 1067a introduced legal gambling in the Philippines by establishing PAGCOR. This law aims at legalizing any form of gambling entertainment that any activity not listed is illegal.
Three years later, Decree No. 1602 was signed to declare penalties for anyone violating the gambling laws in the first decree. The next was a republic act, No. 9287, declared to upgrade some of the regulations in Decree No. 1602. This Act made more penalties for illegal gaming, where a person caught playing or organizing illegal games could receive up to 30 days to 20 years imprisonment.
In 1983, a Presidential decree was signed that enabled PAGCOR to regulate and license online gaming in the Philippines. This decree also included power and operations of PAGCOR and other operations related to the governmental agency. Another republic act created Ceza, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, signed in to affiliate tourism in the Cagayan Area.
After watching the industry’s dramatic growth, with illegalities being a concerning factor, the Philippine government introduced an executive order. Section 3 of the order (No. 13) states that Filipino-based online betting operators must not offer their services to residents. However, the latter also improvised making online gambling legal for residents to play only on regulated offshore casinos.
It was till 2017 that The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 was enacted. This Act then displaces even stronger restrictions on better payouts and bigger bets for their players. With bigger impositions on these services, the Act also made it compulsory for casinos to keep honest records of their customers every 5 years.
And lastly, there is House Bill 8910, which focuses on regulating online cockfighting and E-Sabong throughout the Philippines. It also works to improve all the best functions of the Games and Amusements Board. Regardless, online gambling is now legal, with an electrifying amount of online casinos operating for Philippine players to play and make real money.
Conclusion
With this review, you should have gotten enough information to confirm the legality and history of online gambling in the Philippines. Nevertheless, you still need an online operator to start playing your favorite casino games. There is no need to worry about that: We’ve got you.
The author is an editor at OnlineCasinoHex.ph who has several years of experience in the online gambling industry in the Philippines. His author page is https://onlinecasinohex.ph/author/jameswarner/
