CBCP Calls on Government to Rethink Online Gambling in Strong Reply to PAGCOR

📷: PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco

In a powerful rebuttal to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has reaffirmed its stance against online gambling, calling it a “destructive vice” that exploits society’s most vulnerable.

In a letter dated July 15, CBCP President Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan responded to PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco’s earlier defense of legalized online gambling.

While thanking PAGCOR for its dialogue, the bishop dismantled several key arguments put forward in favor of digital gambling expansion.

The CBCP contested PAGCOR’s “paradigm shift” towards digital platforms, arguing that gambling, unlike food or shelter, is not essential.

“Expanding access under the pretext of changing consumer habits only magnifies the social harms that gambling brings,” the bishops warned, citing broken families, debt, and addiction.

PAGCOR’s advocacy for “responsible online gambling” was sharply criticized.

The bishops labeled it “a contradiction in terms,” highlighting loopholes in user verification, the proliferation of offshore sites, and predatory marketing tactics aimed at youth through celebrities and influencers.

“In the digital realm, there is no bouncer at the door,” the letter declared.

Despite PAGCOR’s safeguards, CBCP pointed to alarming accessibility among minors who access gambling platforms via family accounts or illegal sites.

The bishops stressed that even basic protections like age gates are failing in homes now turned into private casinos.

CBCP argued that public figures glamorizing gambling paint a dangerous illusion of easy wealth for impressionable youth.

This undermines PAGCOR’s claimed commitment to responsible gaming and contradicts its supposed protective stance.

While acknowledging the need for a whole-of-society approach, the bishops called out the government’s dual role as both promoter and regulator of gambling.

“No tax revenue is worth the shattered lives, families, and futures lost to gambling addiction,” the letter stated.

Closing on a pastoral yet firm note, Bishop David urged government leaders to prioritize “human dignity and the common good” over short-term financial gains.

The CBCP emphasized its commitment to collaboration but underscored the moral imperative to resist normalizing vice through entertainment. (ZIA LUNA)