Regulators in The Philippines have confirmed that the country won’t be accepting new online casino applications for the time being.
The news was shared at G2E Asia, which begun in Manila today. Andrea Domingo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Chairperson, mentioned that sustainable industry growth would instead be the main focus.
The above means that if affiliates want to promote to Filipino traffic, they’ll have to promote operators that are already regulated here.
At the event, she said: “We don’t want to overburden the industry by blatantly giving out licenses.
“The President declared a ban on IRs and casinos in January 2018 and we have observed that. He lifted the ban in Clark last year and we have observed that too, but even the Clark region is saturated.”
“Even in Clark, we have stopped acceptance of any applications for new casinos.”
Playing no games
In the Filipino capital, Domingo also mentioned that there are strategies in place to catch operators presenting themselves as business processing offshore (BPO).
She also stated that the granting of Philippines Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) licences would stop for now. This is so that the country’s industry can mature and all regulations are implemented.
Regulators here are also confident that POGO-related problems, including prostitution and kidnapping, will be snuffed out by 95-97% by the end of 2020.
Wary of Cambodia
The Philippines, according to Domingo, also has no interest in benefitting from Cambodia‘s online casino ban. It’ll be keeping an eye on whether or not workers from this country are being hired.
Back in October, Santos Knight Frank Senior Director Morgan McGilvray said that banned online casinos in Cambodia might relocate to the Philippines. However, this is now unlikely after today’s revelations.
