Philippines Catholic Church Wants Ban on All Forms of Online Gambling

Roman Catholic Church leaders in the Philippines will be listening closely to President Aquino’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA). One of the main topics of the speech will be addressing gambling industry including online casinos in Philippines.

Under current Philippine gambling laws the only online gambling that’s permitted to residents of the Philippines is operated by the government controlled Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). It offers a variety of online gaming products, but doesn’t include an online casino.

This is the main reason why a growing number of Filipinos are either playing at foreign-based sites or are involved in illegal gambling activities. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz wants to hear in the SONA what the President has to say about addressing both legal and illegal gambling in the country.

Archbishop commented: “In substance and in simplicity, this humble and humbling supplication can be thus expressed in few words: Mr. President, please banish gambling from the land. They come under deceptive titles and legal niceties. But they are all forms of downright gambling reeking in blatant corruption and human decadence. It would take a big circus to say otherwise, i.e., that gambling is in accord with ethics morals.”

Oscar Cruz sees Philippine gambling as the main reason for the rise in corruption with more and more gambling lords exploiting common Filipinos to gain money and power. Archbishop told online gambling news in Philippines: “Only fools would deny that gambling breeds corruption. Otherwise, how come the previous management of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation is accused of this and that offense?”

He added: “How come both the previous and present managements of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) are undergoing long Senate inquiry ‘in aid of legislation’? How come well known and duly named gambling lords of the infamous jueteng remain free and happy?”