Pagcor To Launch App Flagging Licensed Online Casinos
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) is developing a mobile app to help players distinguish licensed online casinos from unregulated gambling platforms.
Pagcor chairman and chief executive Alejandro H. Tengco announced the plan on August 24, 2026, during the agency's budget hearing before the House Committee on Appropriations.
"The Pagcor app has two main objectives: first, to curb illegal online gambling and second, to protect players by ensuring that they play only on platforms licensed and regulated by Pagcor," Tengco told the committee, according to Pagcor's own account of the hearing published on its website.
Around Half Of Sites Accessed Are Unlicensed
Tengco said the app is intended to address the scale of illegal online gambling reaching Filipino players. "Around 50% of online gaming sites accessed in the Philippines are illegal, and keeping players within the regulated sector has been an ongoing challenge for Pagcor and our law enforcement partners," he said.
The app, expected to launch before the end of 2026, will expand on Pagcor Guarantee, a verification tool the regulator launched in June 2025 at pagcorguarantee.ph that lets the public check whether an operator is licensed before playing or depositing funds.
Playing through a licensed operator, Tengco said, gives players "a process of resolution" if problems arise, and the new app will add a formal dispute-resolution channel for issues with licensed platforms.
Multi-Agency Push Targets Payment Channels
Pagcor is coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center on the wider crackdown, which aims to disrupt the payment channels that unlicensed operators rely on as well as identify the sites themselves.
The initiative follows a licensing fee change that took effect in June 2026, under which Pagcor now requires a minimum guaranteed fee of PHP9m a month from operators offering online casino games, based on PHP30m in revenue at the 30% tax rate, and PHP3m a month from operators without casino games, such as sports betting sites, based on PHP15m in revenue.
Sharp Drop In Gaming Revenue
The app announcement follows a weak second quarter for the regulated Philippine gaming sector.
Pagcor reported on August 10, 2026, that industry gross gaming revenue fell 20.33% year-on-year to PHP88.13bn in the three months to June, down from PHP110.63bn a year earlier.
Licensed casinos remained the largest contributor at PHP45.37bn, or 51.49% of the total, while electronic gaming, including e-games, e-bingo, bingo and poker, added PHP39.85bn, or 45.21%.
Casinos operated directly by Pagcor generated PHP2.90bn, or 3.30% of the quarter's total. Tengco attributed the decline to inflation and the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East, which weighed on discretionary consumer spending, and said Pagcor's total revenues had fallen 26.64% in the first half of 2026 due to lower earnings from gaming operations.
Despite the downturn, Tengco said he expected the industry to recover as operators improve services, adopt new technology and strengthen responsible gaming measures.
"PAGCOR remains committed to implementing measures that will help increase GGR and further strengthen the industry's performance," he said, adding that the regulator would "continue working with our stakeholders to ensure that the gaming industry remains a meaningful contributor to nation-building."
Elsewhere, regulators in other markets have taken their own steps against unlicensed operators; readers can check which platforms hold current licences among regulated online casinos before signing up, and follow further developments via gambling.com's news coverage.
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