Philippine Gambling: From Cockpits to Online Bets

For as far as civilization has started in the Philippines, gambling has long been woven into the fabric of Philippine life. From the cockpits of the Spanish colonial period to today’s billion-peso casinos and online betting platforms, various groups have condemned gambling as a vice, celebrated as leisure, and tapped by the government as sources of much-needed revenue. Recently, the Senate has begun its investigation into online gambling that many Filipinos have been said to be addicted to.

Reports have been cited in the hearings of more recent cases of deaths or violence due to gambling. For instance, a Pampanga father was said to have accrued around ?600,000 in e-sabong debts and committed suicide, per then-Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s account in The Philippine STAR; another from Pampanga was reported in an Inquirer newspaper column as having committed suicide after heavy e-sabong indebtedness; the 34 missing sabungeros allegedly abducted between April 2021-January 2022; and more suicides of bettors over e-sabong losses and so much more.

Filipinos were already heavily involved in cockfighting when the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. In addition to being amusement, missionary reports from the 1600s characterized it as a ritual that represented social status, honor, and masculinity. Colonial authorities soon realized that it was inevitable despite repeated prohibitions and began to regulate cockpits, limiting play days and collecting taxes. Under Spain, lotteries also became popular. A national lottery was established by royal decree by the middle of the 19th century. The colonial coffers received a consistent flow of income from the revenues. In fact, even José Rizal was known as a huge lottery player. While in exile in Dapitan, he won a prize of ?6,200 in 1892.

During the American period, lotteries were formalized with the creation of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in 1934, which held its first draw the following year to fund hospitals and education. After independence, gambling remained under state control. The martial law years of the 1970s saw the creation of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), tasked with running casinos and regulating games of chance. What had once been condemned as immoral was now an official industry. In 1990, then-NBI director Alfredo Lim won a $200,000 jackpot while investigating lottery fraud, an episode later confirmed by GMA News that drew wide public attention.

The Philippines has emerged as a major Asian gambling hub in the twenty-first century. While Manila's Entertainment City is home to expansive resorts in the vein of Las Vegas, PAGCOR runs "Casino Filipino" locations across the country. The PCSO still holds sweepstakes and, more recently, mobile app-accessible digital lotto platforms. But there are costs associated with this growth. Concerns regarding the risks to mental health were raised by a 2025 study of Filipino internet gamblers that discovered a strong correlation between gambling and anxiety. Social activists and church leaders have referred to gambling addiction as a "public health crisis" that is ruining families.

Illegal and loosely-regulated gambling remains a major concern. Jueteng continues to thrive in provinces, while offshore POGOs --once seen as revenue sources-- have been linked to kidnappings, trafficking, and other crimes, prompting government crackdowns and even a ban. The dangers became tragically clear in 2017, when indebted gambler Jessie Javier Carlos attacked Resorts World Manila, setting fires that killed 38 people and injured 70 before taking his own life.

Contradictions abound in the Philippines' gambling history. It is a source of amusement and a source of tragedy, a hobby and a source of income, a vice and a public fundraiser. Throughout the centuries, gambling has influenced --and occasionally damaged-- Filipinos' lives. Finding a balance between cultural customs, government revenue, and the very real social costs of games of chance is still a challenge for society and the state as the industry changes, particularly with the emergence of digital platforms.