No online gambling ban yet, but Marcos vows conclave-style talks
BENGALURU, India — A ban on online gambling is not in the picture anytime soon, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there will be multisectoral talks on the matter.
In a media interview during his state visit to India, Marcos said that an immediate ban would not immediately solve things.
“We are organizing a...I don't know what you call them. Internally, we are calling it a conclave to put all of the interested parties such as the CBCP. [They have] been very vocal on their position so they must be heard. Then we have to hear about from experts on addiction, we have to hear from parents and from teachers as to what the effects are on children, we have to hear from the police what are the effects in terms of criminality,” Marcos said.
The president said the decision was not easy. While he understood that the immediate reaction would be to call for a ban, it was important to assess the full impact.
He cited the banning of e-sabong (cockfighting) as an example, noting that the ban merely pushed people into illegal spaces.
Marcos insisted that the decision to hold off on a ban was not because of the revenue generated by legal gambling platforms but acknowledged that there was a social cost.
Still, Marcos said they needed to study whether the issue was online gambling itself or the addiction surrounding it.
“In my opinion, [a] ban will not take care of the problem. We have to be a little bit more measured in our response,” he said.
However, Marcos is not closing the door on a possible ban.
While hesitant, Marcos said a ban is possible if that is the outcome of the discussions.
“If it comes down to a ban, then we will ban. But if there are better solutions than a ban, we will take those on,” he said.
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