Philippines: Influencers promoting illegal gambling to face raps
Philippine authorities have warned that social media influencers promoting illegal online gambling and betting sites in the country will face criminal charges.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the country’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre (CICC) said that it is leading a nationwide crackdown in coordination with the Philippine National Police – Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), and advocacy group Digital Pinoys.
CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Aboy Paraiso confirmed that intelligence reports on illegal gambling sites, mobile applications and their promoters have been formally handed over to the police for case build-up and prosecution.
“These will serve as bullets to strengthen our case against digital influencers who wantonly promote unregulated gambling sites,” Paraiso said in Filipino.
Under the joint enforcement framework, illegal online gambling operators and promoters may be charged under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, alongside other criminal offences. Police officials also said that additional charges could include syndicated estafa, with possible referrals to financial investigators and anti-money laundering authorities where warranted.
Almost 1,900 complaints logged in early 2026
Authorities revealed that from January to 1 March 2026 alone, the CICC’s Action Centre recorded 1,891 complaints involving illegal online gambling platforms. “This is alarming. So once again, I urge everyone to be careful online. With every scroll on Facebook or TikTok, there are influencers trying to pull you into gambling,” Paraiso warned.
He stressed that the findings were based on documentation and verification conducted by the CICC’s Threat Monitoring Centre in partnership with Digital Pinoys, not on unverified complaints.
Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said takedown requests have already been submitted to Meta to remove accounts and pages promoting illegal gambling. While influencers may appeal platform bans, he noted that none of the reported accounts taken down for illegal gambling promotions has been reinstated.
Zero-tolerance policy blocks 3,000 merchants
Paraiso also highlighted the CICC’s coordination with fintech platform GCash to disrupt payment channels tied to unlawful gaming operations.
“We are proud to share our success with GCash. Because of our joint enhanced monitoring and the Zero Tolerance Policy of their fintech superapp, more than 3,000 online merchants associated with illegal gaming have been shut down and permanently blocked.”
Separately, Gustilo said Digital Pinoys’ monitoring tools flagged 3,700 illegal gambling sites in just the first four days of March, underscoring the scale of the problem. PAGCOR Senior Vice President for the Security and Monitoring Cluster Raul Villanueva urged the public to verify whether online gambling platforms are licensed by checking the regulator’s official website.
“We monitor legal gambling platforms to ensure they follow our regulations,” Villanueva said. Illegal online gambling sites, he warned, often operate as scams, shutting down winning accounts or preventing users from withdrawing funds without cause. Licensed operators, by contrast, are placed under strict oversight by PAGCOR.
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