Senators press for tighter controls on e-wallet use in online gambling

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

Cayetano asked the BSP to submit data on e-wallet earnings from regular transactions versus online gaming. (Pixabay Photo)

MANILA – Senators have called on e-wallet service providers and regulators to close loopholes that allow access to online gambling, warning that partial restrictions continue to enable Filipinos to place bets easily.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, in a radio interview Friday, said that while some “in-app” links enabling direct play through e-wallet applications such as GCash have been removed, users can still connect their accounts to gambling sites and bank savings accounts.

“Hindi ka na nga pwedeng maglaro sa GCash pero pwede mo pa ring i-link ‘yung savings account mo at GCash mo. Napakadali pa rin para sa mga kababayan nating tumaya gamit ‘yung kanilang GCash (You can no longer directly play in GCash, but you can still link your account to gambling apps and to your savings account. It remains very easy for our countrymen to place bets using their GCash),” he said.

Gatchalian added that implementation appears gradual, possibly due to the large subscriber base of e-wallet platforms, which he estimated at about 90 million accounts, including multiple registrations by some users.

He also disclosed that some illegal gambling sites still have payment links to e-wallet services.

Meanwhile, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who chairs the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, told a joint Senate hearing Thursday that while he remains committed to a total ban on online gambling, the government must pursue “regulations that work” to address its reach and social costs.

“I’m still for the total ban. But between the total ban at wala tayong gagawin (and we do nothing), I want to focus on regulations that work,” he said.

Cayetano urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to consider tighter restrictions, including prohibiting e-wallet use for gambling, drawing parallels between safeguards in physical casinos and the largely unregulated payment systems in online betting.

“Sa e-sabong kasi, nakita natin ang difference ng may betting station at ‘yung nagagamit ang e-wallets [sa online gaming]. Have you decided or still under consideration whether ipagbawal ang paggamit ng e-wallets (In e-sabong, we saw the difference between having a betting station and being able to use e-wallets in online gaming. Have you decided or is it still under consideration to prohibit e-wallet use)?” Cayetano asked BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan.

The senator likened e-wallets to banks covered by anti-money laundering laws, noting that while banks are not the ones laundering money, they can be penalized for becoming conduits.

“So ‘pag nagiging conduit ngayon ang e-wallets, sa laki ng kita nila, they don’t need this (So if e-wallets become conduits now, with their huge earnings, they don’t need this),” he said.

Cayetano asked the BSP to submit data on e-wallet earnings from regular transactions versus online gaming.

He said his opposition to gambling has come at personal cost, recalling that he lost the speakership of the House of Representatives in 2020, in part for not calendaring a franchise bill for e-sabong operators.

“I was threatened, but it’s worth the cost,” he said, citing a 25-year record of pushing anti-gambling measures, including his filing of the Anti-Gambling Act in 2000.

Tangonan confirmed Thursday that the BSP has ordered e-wallet operators to remove in-app links to gambling sites within 48 hours and is finalizing rules to prohibit such payments, including those made via credit cards.