Gaming insights Gaming

Illegal gambling next on Philippines hit list

Written by Ben Blaschke

Having already shaken up the nation’s gaming industry during his first few months in the job, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte now has illegal gambling in his sights.

Announcing the government’s latest plans during a speech over the weekend, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa claimed the ongoing war on illegal drugs would continue for another six months at which point authorities would focus their resources on illegal gambling instead.

“With the President’s call for change in the country, there will yet be no end to wars we are waging – because after we are done with the war against illegal drugs, in six months, we will shift our sights to eradicating illegal gambling in the country,” Dela Rosa said.

“While this is already a part of police operations, we will be giving more life and energy to these operations, the same way we did with our campaign against illegal drugs.”

The government’s ruthless and controversial war on drugs has attracted headlines around the world, with official PNP figures showing that 1,506 people had been killed during police operations in the two months since President Duterte took office. Another 720,000 people have been arrested, around 40 percent of the 1.8 million drug sellers and users they have set as a target.

However, Dela Rosa insisted the war on illegal gambling would not be as brutal as the current campaign.

“They are not drug-crazed who do not understand. Gambling lords will not fire at you,” he said.

President Duterte has already made his mark on the country’s legal gambling industry, revoking the licenses of around 200 online gaming sites and ordering gaming regulator Pagcor to sell the 11 casinos it operates.