VARIOUS voices have emerged as regards online gambling, following the disquieting narratives on the missing cockfight devotees, many of whom have been reported dead and buried under mysterious circumstances.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself in his vlog on social media before leaving for the United States on an official visit, has lamented that online gambling – now more accessible to many because of technology and digitalization – has been destroying families especially when used irresponsibly.
While he acknowledged some headway in the government’s digitalization program, the President warned such technology had been irresponsibly used for scams, misinformation and gambling.
“Technology is here to make our lives easier, to rid the government of corruption, to speed up processes, to improve education, health care and trade. Above all, to make the Filipino family successful and united. Not to destroy it,” said the Presiden, who is studying mounting calls for a total ban on online gambling.
At the same time, the President is cautiously weighing the possible economic and social impacts of the proposal for a total ban, supported by some lawmakers in the Senate.
He is expected to expound on this in his State of the Nation Address before the Senate and the House of Representatives on July 28.
Online gambling, as some experts have noted, has become, in their words “mainstream, digital and inextricably linked to how millions of Filipinos interact with money and entertainment.”
But these same experts note that while opportunity expands in things digital, so are the dangers, pointing out that banning online gambling is like “locking the front door while leaving the back wide open.”
The leap of online gambling has generated a covert network of unregulated, illegal platforms that devour unsuspecting users that these cannot be eliminated at the blink of an eye, however authorities restrict access to such specific websites.
It is not enough, from where we are, that 11,000 illegal gambling sites have been blocked, as reported by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, in coordination with the National Telecommunications Technology.
Note that these sites, when none is watching, can easily resurrect like the mythical phoenix that cyclically regenerates or is reborn from the ashes of its predecessor.
We call on the authorities to study well the issue and lock not only the front door but the exit door as well.
