Online gambling surge fuels suicides, crimes, and family breakdowns – senator

By Dolly Yasa

Online gambling revenues in the Philippines have skyrocketed by more than 5,500 percent in just four years, with Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri warning that the unchecked growth is destroying lives through suicides, crimes, and family breakdowns.

Speaking at the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement hearing on August 14, Zubiri revealed that gross gaming revenues jumped from PHP 8 billion in 2022 to PHP 33.16 billion in 2023, then to PHP 135.71 billion in 2024, with PHP 106.53 billion already recorded in the first half of 2025.

“From 2020 to 2024, the industry grew by 5,564 percent. Unbelievable. And yet it is real,” Zubiri said, warning that the Philippines has now overtaken other Asian countries in the number of casinos, with 79 compared to Cambodia’s 48, Macau’s 47, Vietnam’s 40, and South Korea’s 32.

“Number one sa sugalan. Nakakahiya at nakakadismaya. And that’s just brick-and-mortar casinos. With online gambling, baka lampas pa tayo sa number one,” he added.

The senator cited multiple tragedies linked to online gambling, including the suicide of a young man in Bukidnon over unpaid gambling debts and a police corporal arrested for robbing a convenience store to fund his bets.

He also pointed to a 22-year-old in La Trinidad who took his own life due to gambling debts, and two separate killings in Cebu — one involving a man accused of murdering three people after a dispute over winnings, and another in which an 18-year-old allegedly killed a 45-year-old over a gambling argument.

“These stories reveal the ugly truth of online gambling. It is not at all just fun and games, as the colorful advertisements would like us to believe,” Zubiri said.

He stressed that the massive revenues come not from wealthy high rollers but from ordinary wage earners, including jeepney drivers, market vendors, stay-at-home mothers, and even students.

“The biggest culprit is the accessibility and the ease of transactions,” Zubiri said, citing seamless links between e-wallets and gambling sites. “Napakabilis ng transactions. Napaka-convenient maglaro, mag-scatter.”

He noted that GCash, with about 94 million users — equivalent to 81 percent of the population — includes a “Games” section and offers loan services like GLoan, GGives, and GCredit that can be used to continue betting.

Zubiri also cited a 2023 Capstone-Intel survey showing that 64 percent of respondents engaged in online gambling, and rehabilitation center Bridges of Hope reporting that 7 in 10 of its clients are now treated for online gambling addiction.

The support group Recovering Gamblers of the Philippines has likewise seen its clientele shift from 60 percent online gamblers in 2023 to 90 percent in 2025.

According to the World Health Organization, each high-risk gambler affects an average of six other people, a “chain effect” that Zubiri said is now evident in Filipino communities.

He expressed hope that the presence of experts, agencies, and victims at the hearing would help craft solutions to address what he described as an urgent national crisis.