A SENATOR has filed a bill seeking to impose a fine of as much as P500,000 and jail time of up to three years against individuals promoting gambling online.
Under Senator Robin C. Padilla’s Senate Bill No. 2602, filed on March 12, the Department of Justice is tasked to issue an order restricting access to online content promoting gambling, with the National Telecommunications Commission in-charge of monitoring compliance.
Internet service providers would need to comply with the disabling orders within 48 hours after they are issued.
Mr. Padilla, who heads the Senate Commitee on Public Information and Mass Media, said in a statement on Thursday that the proposed laws aim to “lessen, if not eliminate the exposure and impact of gambling to the general public, especially the youth.”
“Considering the evolving landscape of social media platforms, this representation has been apprised of the availability of online user-generated content relating to gambling that demonstrates, promotes and provides instructions on betting or staking to the general public,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Mary Grace N. Poe-Llamanzares called on law enforcers to boost their efforts to act on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) that conduct fraud.
“Our inability to stop the POGO-related crimes will be a mockery of our laws and will perpetuate the cycle of exploitation and abuse not only of Filipinos but of their foreigner victims,” she said in a statement. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
