E-commerce sites, Viber being used
MANILA, Philippines — Amid tighter scrutiny of online gambling and delinking with e-wallet services, its operators have begun migrating to encrypted messaging and e-commerce applications, Sen. Erwin Tulfo said yesterday.
“The fight against the accessibility of gambling to the public is far from over and we will do our best to work with the private sector and other stakeholders to come up with a holistic approach in addressing this problem,” said Tulfo, who chairs the Senate committee on games and amusement.
The senator noted that while e-wallet companies followed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 48-hour deadline from Aug. 14 to remove gambling links from their apps, operators are “doubling efforts” to shift to platforms such as Viber, Telegram, Lazada and other mobile applications.
Tulfo cited the case of BingoPlus, which informed its patrons that the games remain accessible through encrypted messaging.
“Starting August 16, BingoPlus will bring you the fun through our app, website, and Viber, while still allowing easy deposits and withdrawals via GCash and Maya. Your account stays 100% active and ready to play!” read the advisory.
Another route, Tulfo said, is through e-commerce platforms like Lazada where BingoPlus vouchers are being sold as regular items. These can be purchased with e-wallets, debit and credit cards and later converted into gaming credits.
“We laud the move of the e-wallet firms to delink these online gambling sites from their platforms. This is a sign that the business sector is willing to work with the government in addressing the problem of online gambling addiction in our country,” Tulfo said.
“We are not enemies here. We are allies that should work hand in hand to ensure that the next generation of Filipinos are not gambling addicts,” he added.
The Senate’s games and amusement panel is holding hearings on online gambling measures, during which a majority of senators expressed opposition to online gambling whether legal or illegal.
