Gambling Addiction Hotline Calls Increase Amid Tightening Measures in the Philippines

Gambling addiction is worsening in the Philippines, according to counsellors who say calls to support hotlines have surged even as Manila has stepped up efforts to curb the problem. The issue is now drawing in a broader range of people, from housewives and blue-collar workers to young Filipinos and overseas workers.

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Hotlines Under Pressure

According to Jon Ty, founder and director of Bridges of Hope, gambling has been responsible for 9 out of 10 hotlines the centre receives this year, compared to 7 in 10 in 2025. This has been attributed to desperation on behalf of families who desperately need help to save the addicts within their family.

The gambling habit usually comes along with alcohol abuse and addiction to other things, making it hard to deal with. According to Ty, the effects of gambling extend beyond an individual gambler, but break down an entire family. The situation means that children are not going to school, bills are unpaid, jobs are lost, and marriages end.

To cope with the extra workload, Bridges of Hope had increased its rehab centers to 16 in total, from 13 in 2025, with three additional rehab centers opening soon.

More Calls, New Groups

Reagan Praferosa, director of Recovering Gamblers of the Philippines, said the support group’s helpline has also been using AI to manage a rise in calls, which has climbed to 30 a day from 20 last year. He said the group has been assigning more resources to the early hours of the morning, when many distressed callers seek help.

Praferosa said former gamblers understand that these are often the hours when people lose control most easily. He described them as the hour of desperation.

Teresita Castillo, a gambling addiction counsellor and president of the non-profit Seagulls Flock Organization, said gambling participation remains high even if the number of active users is lower than the number of registered online gamblers. The organization has helped set up the National Problem Gambling Helpline with PAGCOR, and since its launch on May 26, it has received 161 calls, according to Castillo.

She said most online gamblers in the Philippines are typically from low-income and lower-middle-income groups. At the same time, she noted that tech-savvy and higher-income young Filipinos are becoming increasingly vulnerable to addiction.

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Online Gambling’s Reach

Unlike any other country in Southeast Asia, online gambling is legally practiced in the Philippines among citizens aged 21 years or older, including casino games and sports betting. Offline gambling, which includes activities like cockfighting, casino gambling, and horse racing, is also permitted to Filipinos who meet the age requirement.

Based on the information released by PAGCOR during a recent senate hearing in the Philippines, 32 million Filipino electronic gaming players have been documented as of July 2025, four times more than the 8.2 million reported at the end of 2024. However, a few months after this announcement, PAGCOR claimed that there are 10 million active players.

Praferosa said the problem is not limited to workers on lower wages. He said more housewives are reaching out for help, with many gambling away money meant for household expenses. He also said there has been a rise in mothers calling in tears during the back-to-school season after tuition and book money was lost to gambling.

Calls For Stronger Safeguards

Ty and other advocates say Manila’s existing curbs are not enough. PAGCOR ordered gambling-related billboard advertisements removed in July last year, and the following month, the central bank told e-wallet operators to unlink gaming platforms from their apps. Despite that, counsellors say gamblers are likely to turn to unregulated platforms.

Ty believed that stricter regulation of spending habits and gambling hours had to be supplemented with better protection measures, especially when it came to underage individuals. Moreover, he called for the government to take a more proactive stance regarding assistance for hotlines and emergency services that support individuals battling gambling addiction.

Legislators have been working on passing legislation to toughen online gambling regulations, but efforts have not been successful thus far. Chairman of PAGCOR, Alejandro Tengco, announced recently that this year may witness a drop in the revenue generated by the gaming industry due to tough measures on online payments and general economic pressures caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East. He estimated total gaming revenue to be between 320 billion Philippine pesos to 350 billion pesos, down from 396 billion pesos last year.

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Source: South China Morning Post