PAGCOR urged to give list of legitimate online games for tax collection

Authored by Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr., the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) approved, last September 3, 2025, a resolution urging Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alejandro Tengco to furnish City Mayor Greg Gasataya and the SP with an official list of licensed, private and legitimate online gambling platforms, complete with their business addresses and contact numbers – for purposes of business permits and local taxation.

The Gamboa-resolution seeks to regulate the growing number of online gambling platforms by PAGCOR operating within the jurisdiction of Bacolod City without the necessary business permits and a Resolution of No Objection (RONO).

He added that the City Government of Bacolod has all the right to ask for the list from PAGCOR, to weed out the illegitimate ones, then, impose taxes because these online gambling entities are privately owned corporations.

Gamboa explained that while these platforms are licensed by PAGCOR, they are gambling entities that are generating massive revenues thus the urgent need to remove the illegitimate operators and regulate the legitimate ones to comply with local taxation and permit requirements.

The Gamboa-resolution warned that, upon receipt of the official lists from PAGCOR, identified gambling operators’ failure to secure the necessary permits will be subject to strict sanctions; they could be blocked through the local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or the Public Telecom Entity (PTE), e.g. Smart, Globe and Dito.

Erring and illegitimate operators can be blocked in accordance with National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Memorandum Circular No. 001-01-2025, to be enforced using the Protective Domain Name System (Protective DNS), a cyber security service that analyzes and filters DNS queries to prevent access to malicious or unauthorized sites.

Protective DNS analyzes DNS queries and takes action to mitigate threats, leveraging the existing DNS protocol architecture; this could be managed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) or the PTE’s owned protective services.

Meantime, Gamboa stressed that the urgency of the resolution is underscored by the staggering P470 billion in revenues generated nationwide by online gambling platforms in 2024 alone and, therefore, Bacolod must ensure that a fair share of these revenues is properly taxed and used for the benefit of the city.

He said that this is not just about regulation—it is about fiscal responsibility and protecting the integrity of our local economy – adding, that if effectively enforced, the resolution could significantly increase Bacolod City’s revenue base while ensuring stricter monitoring of online gambling activities within its jurisdiction.* (WGJ)