The Philippines is trying to establish itself as player in
the online gambling licensing world, offering licenses to operators via the
government's
Cagayan Economic Zone Authority
corporation. At present 50 licenses are up for grabs with
plans to expand the licensee quota as they are filled. Interestingly, one
of the requirements imposed on CEZA licensees is that they do not except bets
from either Philippine residents, or on sporting events based in the
Philippines.
Aside from CEZA licensee requirements, no online gambling
specific laws or regulations exist in the Philippines. In March 2009 the
Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Alliance for Rural Concerns
Representative Narciso Santiago proposed that gambling on the Internet be made
illegal but nothing has since been heard on the matter and no such laws have
been put in place.
Gambling generally in the Philippines is omnipresent with the
government operated Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. ("Pagcor") casinos all
over the National Capital Region and major cities of the archipelago. In
addition to Pagcor's many sanctioned casinos, illegal jueteng houses are
everywhere. The government also recently revived plans for a mega casino
precinct planned to rival developments in Singapore, Macau and Malaysia.
The Arroyo government is currently working on the $15 billion Bagong Nayong
Pilipino-Manila Bay Integrated City gambling project due for completion in 2013.
While there are currently no live dealer casinos providing Philippine peso/piso
(PHP) banking capabilities or local language support, the following operators do provide Asian based dealer
rooms and Asian favorite live games.
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