Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines
Types of Illegal Gambling in The Philippines Various games turn from legal to illegal when the wagers no longer transpire between players and a legally licensed and regulated operator but rather when bets become a peer-to-peer game where the “house” takes a rake of the profit which thus makes it illegal. MANILA, Philippines — As the police intensify their crackdown on illegal gambling, even card and board games at wakes would also be prohibited. In a briefing on Monday during the 29th Philippine. Gambling laws in the Philippines have deemed it illegal for state licensed online casinos to offer their services to citizens of the islands. However, there are no laws dictating where players can bet, hence it is perfectly legal for Filipino gamblers to enjoy offshore gambling online as long as the destination is legally licensed and regulated. The Revised Penal Code of the country makes illegal all forms of land-based and online gambling in the Philippines apart from lotteries, while the other legal acts specify exceptions from this prohibition mainly referring to offshore gambling and the special economic zones.
- Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines Immigration
- Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines
- Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines Constitution
President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree Number 1602 into law on June 11th, 1978. This Decree introduced harsher penalties on individuals and hosts of illegal gambling activities. PD No. 1602 was created out of the need for increased penalties against illegal gaming violations.
Stiffer penalties were believed to be the key to effectively combating illegal gaming activities such as illegal number games and so on. The Philippine government justified the Decree as a law to assist in removing such a social menace that consistently drained the energy and resources of the people. This Decree simplified and clarified violation penalties to be imposed on any person taking part in any form of illegal gambling.
Presidential Decree No. 1602 aided in improving Philippine gambling laws which counteracted illicit games, however, penalties against such were so easily circumvent-able in the past due to the application of a confusing and outdated system of reprimands.
Such penalties held no real authority, therefore, through the creation of Presidential Decree No. 1602 penalties were effectively brought into the modern age to meet current needs, norms, and customs as well as outlined specific games affected by the penalty.
How Does PD No. 1602 Affect Casino Gambling in the Philippines?
Presidential Decree 1602 does not affect lawfully licensed domestic casino gambling but rather targets any and all illicit gaming within the Philippines. This Decree amended criminal provisions such as Articles 195-199 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Republic Act 3063, PD 483, PD 449, PD 510, and PD 1306 and thus made penalties effective and responsive to the need to curb illegal gaming. Therefore, this Decree promoted legal gambling within casinos, clubs, and turf clubs which assisted in the shift of attitude from illicit underground games to authorized avenues.
Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines Immigration
The Effect of PD No. 1067-A on Philippine Online Casino Gambling
PD 1602 did not affect online casino gambling due to the fact that the world wide web and its online casino's functions were not yet popularized or even created. Therefore, no language within Presidential Decree 1602 directly addressed online gambling in any way.
Although, some critics could claim that the Decree includes the term “vessel”, which could mean the internet, as a punishable offense if the means of such vessel were used to participate in any of the stated forms of illegal games. Nonetheless, this has never been tried against persons in any case of online gaming.
Types Of Illegal Gambling In The Philippines
However, legally licensed online operators that are located offshore can offer their games to Philippine players without restriction. Therefore, gambling on online sportsbooks for Philippine players remain safe so long as they are based offshore.
Outcome Of Presidential Decree 1602
The urgent need to update gambling laws brought on the creation of PD 1602 as a means to simply clarify the understanding of violations and explicitly prescribe harsher penalties for those violations. Harsher penalties were needed to curb illegal activities as previous penalties were inadequate and did not effectively discourage illegal gaming. Therefore, after the standardization of penalties became clear and enforceable illicit gambling activities began their downturn.
Types of Illegal Gambling in The Philippines
Various games turn from legal to illegal when the wagers no longer transpire between players and a legally licensed and regulated operator but rather when bets become a peer-to-peer game where the “house” takes a rake of the profit which thus makes it illegal. The following games are deemed illegal in the peer to peer betting environment :
- Cockfighting
- Jai alai game-fixing
- Numbers games
- Bingo
- Other forms of lotteries
- Cara y cruz
- Pompiang
- 7-11 and any game using dice
- Blackjack
- Lucky nine
- Poker and its derivatives
- Monte
- Baccarat
- Cuajao
- Panguingue and other card games
- Paik que
- High and low
- Domino and other games using plastic tiles and the likes
- Slot machines
- Roulette
- Pinball and other mechanical contraptions and devices
- Dog racing
- Boat racing
- Car racing and other forms of races
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Volleyball
- Bowling
- Pingpong and other forms of individual or team contests to include game fixing, point-shaving, and other machinations
- Banking or percentage game, or any other game scheme, whether upon chance or skill, wherein wagers consisting of money, articles of value or representative of value are at stake or made
Importance of Participating on Legitimately Licensed Gambling Entertainment
It is important to be sure that the gambling entertainment individuals choose to engage in is a legitimately licensed and regulated operator. This is due to compliance requirements with regulatory agencies and their standards, all of which allow players to gamble in a safe environment without worry or fear.
However, players and persons knowingly participating in unregulated underground games and/or allowing any form of illicit gaming to be held within a place, vehicle, building owned or managed by them are subject to arrest, punishment of fines up to six thousand pesos, and potential prison time.
Therefore, there is no reason to risk gambling on illegal formats of gaming. Instead, we encourage players to bet legally on Philippine online casinos to enjoy a wide array of games and bonuses.
THERE are legal and illegal gambling. Legal gambling are those covered with permits and under government regulations, like the operations of Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), which now includes the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo), Philippine Charity Sweeptakes Office (PCSO), which operates the Lotto jackpot, three digits and the Small Town Lottery (STL), horse racing and the cockfight arena. Those classified as illegal are those that fall under Presidential Decree 1602 or the illegal Gambling Law.
Is holding gambling during wakes illegal? I pose this question after the police issued a stern warning against those who hold gambling during wakes, saying they will arrest participants. This, after Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Archie Gamboa ordered his men to intensify police operations against any forms of illegal gambling.
Police Regional Office (PRO 7) Chief Albert Ignatius Ferro warned the public that they would arrest those caught gambling during the holding of wakes. However, Ferro said that since gambling during wakes is considered a part of our culture, he would allow gambling, but only one table would be allowed during wakes. More than that, they’d arrest people caught gambling on extra tables.
Whether holding gambling during wakes is illegal or not, our authorities should be lenient and considerate since it is part of our practice, culture and tradition. And these are only for pastime.
It is part of the Filipino tradition, specially for Roman Catholic believers that when someone dies, it is customary to hold a wake. Practitioners of some religions, such as Islam, bury their dead immediately within 24 hours. Wakes usually last several days, especially when the family is waiting for the arrival of close relatives. In the provinces, they usually last nine days, which is the length of time for the novena (prayer) to conclude, because of financial considerations.
If they bury their dead early, they would prepare food for those who will attend the funeral. And in the last day of the novena or locally known as “tapus,” they would prepare food again and end up feeding those who will attend. In order to save money, they would prepare only a few times, which is during the burial and at the end of the nine-day novena. Magpreparar kag monggos, sawayon pa ka. Moingon nang uban, “Patuga-tuga ug kamatay, monggos ra man diay.”
Part of our tradition is allowing gambling like mahjong, pusoy, dama, chess, tong-its and other card games like blackjack, piyat-piyat, lucky nine, poker, baccarat and other derivatives that are popularly played on the streets and not in casinos to keep visitors awake and alive, especially in the wee hours of midnight. Gambling during wakes is for pasttime only. The people’s primary intention in going there is not to gamble, but to pay their last respects to the dead and to sympathize with the bereaved family. We will not be praying all the time for the dead. But in order to keep themselves awake, they indulge in gambling with only little winnings. Dili gyud pamugas ba. Lingaw-lingaw lang. Daginuton pa gyud na sa mga pulis. Gawas pa, ang “tong” ihatag man sa tagtungod para pang-snacks ug coffee.
The Ilonggos who are fond of playing mahjong usually hold wakes for several weeks or even months so they can play the game for a long time. They even sometimes rent an unclaimed cadaver from a funeral parlor so they can hold vigil and play mahjong. That is the tradition of the Illongos. Now, they want to put a stop to this kind of tradition because it is illegal? Why doesn’t the police intensify its operations against jueteng, masiao and the illegal STL, which disguises itself under the legal lotto three-digit combination? They cannot concentrate on these gambling activities because they are making it their “milking cow”? Just asking.