188JILI Online Gambling Rules: BSP, PAGCOR and the Wallet Changes

If your wallet no longer shows a gambling link, the cause is a Bangko Sentral instruction from August 2025, not a fault on your phone. This page sets out what the Bangko Sentral, the President and PAGCOR have published about online gambling, in the order a player runs into it. It belongs to the wider map of Philippine casinos and who licenses them.

What the Bangko Sentral ordered

Memorandum No. M-2025-029, addressed to all BSP-Supervised Institutions, is titled “Suspension of In-app Gambling Access in Mobile Payment Apps and Websites”. It cites Monetary Board Resolution No. 805, dated 14 August 2025, and gives the reason as the surge in online gambling transactions and public concern about its effect on consumers’ financial health.

The memorandum is signed by Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. It deals with links inside payment apps and websites, and it does not mention any individual game, studio or site.

What the wallets did

GCash’s page adds that “GCash is not a gaming app” and that the merchant sets any minimum withdrawal amount. If you cannot get into a merchant account, GCash says to contact the merchant for help getting in and withdrawing, and it says login methods vary by merchant.

GMA News reported that Maya disabled links to gambling sites through its Games feature from 8 p.m. on Saturday, 16 August 2025. That report also said GCash cut access through its GLife feature, and both finished inside the 48 hours the memorandum gave.

PAGCOR has described the delinking from its side. Its chairman said the financial safeguards include the delinking of e-wallets and certain payment channels, meant to improve traceability, reinforce anti-money laundering protections and curb illicit financial activity.

Executive Order No. 74 of 2024

The Official Gazette lists Executive Order No. 74, series of 2024, signed on 5 November 2024. Its title reads: Immediate Ban of Philippine Offshore Gaming, Internet Gaming, and Other Offshore Gaming Operations in the Philippines, and for Other Purposes.

The Gazette page carries the title and a link to the order’s PDF, so read the PDF for the operative text. The title names offshore gaming operations. PAGCOR’s statements on this page treat a separate, licensed online sector as continuing under its rules.

What PAGCOR has published on advertising and safeguards

PAGCOR’s statements on online play come in dated pieces, each with a different subject.

1. Outdoor adverts, July 2025. A memorandum of 7 July 2025 told licensees, suppliers, system administrators and gaming venue operators to remove gambling ads, with an inventory of billboards and wallscapes due by 16 July and removal by 15 August. Only institutional or responsible gaming campaigns, subject to PAGCOR approval, were to continue. This is reported by BusinessMirror from PAGCOR’s statement.
2. Helpline adverts, June 2026. A memorandum of 9 June 2026 told licensees to replace gambling advertisements with National Problem Gambling Helpline materials by 15 July 2026, to stay up until 15 September 2026.
3. Player tools, December 2025. PAGCOR said licensed operators must now integrate responsible gaming tools such as self-exclusion and betting limits, and that it has prohibited credit cards and cryptocurrencies for betting.
4. Licensed versus illegal sites, August 2026. PAGCOR’s chairman told a House committee on 24 August that around 50 percent of online gaming sites accessed in the Philippines are illegal, and that a PAGCOR app planned before the end of the year will steer players to licensed platforms.
5. PAGCOR Guarantee page, 2025. PAGCOR launched this online verification facility so the public can check whether an online gaming provider is licensed.

What the law says about illegal gambling

Presidential Decree 1602, “Prescribing stiffer penalties on illegal gambling”, sets penalties by role in section 1. Its first penalty tier, paragraph (a), is prision correccional in its medium period or a fine of one thousand to six thousand pesos for anyone who takes part in illegal or unauthorized games, and the paragraph lists card games, slot machines and roulette among them. The maintainer or conductor of such schemes faces prision correccional in its maximum period or a fine of six thousand pesos under paragraph (b).

Republic Act 9287 covers illegal numbers games such as jueteng. A bettor faces imprisonment from 30 to 90 days. Both texts are on lawphil.net, so read the full section before you rely on a summary, including this one.

What it means for you

1. Treat a gambling link inside a wallet app as removed, and read the wallet’s own help page for what it says about your balance.
2. Match any gaming site against PAGCOR’s published lists, using the steps on the page for checking a licensed brand and domain. The market map starts at the casinos in Manila and Entertainment City pages for land-based resorts, and eBingo under its own licence for the electronic side.
3. Stay 21 or over. PAGCOR’s responsible gaming page bars persons under 21.
4. Use the helpline at (02) 8248 9568 or support@npgh.ph if play stops being fun.