Philippines Ad Ban Bill Risks Fuelling Illegal Gambling
A bill that would ban all gambling advertising in the Philippines could push more bettors toward unlicensed offshore online casinos rather than reduce gambling itself, according to Marie Antonette Quiogue, CEO of Manila-based advisory firm Arden Consult.
Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero filed Senate Bill No. 2347, the Gambling Advertising Prohibition Act, on July 31, 2026, proposing a nationwide blackout on gambling promotion across television, radio, print, online platforms and social media.
What Senate Bill 2347 Would Ban
Escudero's bill would prohibit gambling advertisements and sponsorships across every major media channel, including celebrity endorsements, influencer campaigns, product placements, branded merchandise aimed at under-21s and sponsorships of sports, concerts and cultural events, according to the bill text published on the senator's own website.
Advertising would remain permitted only inside licensed gambling venues and on an operator's own website or app, subject to age verification for users 21 and over.
Escudero modelled the measure on Republic Act No. 9211, the 2003 Tobacco Regulation Act, which imposed similar restrictions on cigarette marketing. "It's about time that we regulate the gambling industry the same way we regulated tobacco two decades ago," he said when he filed the bill.
The proposal includes a one-year transition period before enforcement and rising penalties: up to PHP200,000 ($3,400) or a year in prison for a first offense, up to PHP300,000 and two years for a second, and up to PHP500,000, three years and licence revocation for a third. Foreign nationals convicted under the law would face deportation.
PAGCOR Already Reporting a Steep Downturn
The bill lands as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) reports a sharp slide in gaming revenue. The regulator's own budget performance report shows total income of PHP43.33 billion for the first half of 2026, down 26.6% from PHP59.06 billion a year earlier, with gaming operations revenue down 27.1% to PHP38.93 billion.
PAGCOR chairman Alejandro Tengco told the House Committee on Appropriations on August 24, 2026 that gaming activity fell roughly 40% after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas delinked e-wallets from online gambling platforms in late 2025, and that PAGCOR now expects full-year income to drop 18% to about PHP86.95 billion.
"It Will Make Them the Only Ones Left"
Quiogue, whose firm has spent the past year arguing against blanket prohibition of Philippine online gambling, told sigma.world that a total ad ban would strip visibility from licensed operators while leaving offshore platforms free to keep marketing through channels the Philippine authorities cannot easily police.
"Every country that has enacted a total gambling advertising ban, starting with Italy in 2018, ended up with a larger illegal market," she said. "A total advertising ban will not stop these promotions. It will make them the only ones left."
In an August 3, 2026 analysis published on Arden Consult's own site, Quiogue argued that channelization, the share of play flowing through licensed platforms, matters more than headline revenue as a measure of whether regulation is working.
She has made the same point about the ad-ban bill: falling licensed revenue after a ban would not mean less gambling, only less of it recorded by the state. "If licensed revenue falls after a ban, that shows less recorded gambling, not less gambling," she said.
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A Regulator Already Fighting for Channelization
PAGCOR has spent recent years trying to move Filipino bettors onto licensed platforms by cutting licence fees and tightening payment and identity checks.
Tengco told lawmakers this year that the share of wagering happening on licensed platforms has climbed to roughly 50%, up from an estimated eight to 10% when he took over as chairman.
Whether SB 2347 clears the Senate, and in what form, will determine if that channelization push continues or reverses course.
