The head of the Catholic bishops’ leadership said Friday that Pagcor wrote him defending legal online gambling — a justification he firmly rejected in a public address.
Speaking at the 11th Philippine Conference on New Evangelization in Manila, CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said Pagcor responded “point by point” to the bishops’ July 8 pastoral letter opposing online gambling.
He said the agency argued that legalization allows for better regulation and enables the government to generate revenue.
“The sum total of their reasoning: if we don’t legalize it, it stays illegal — and we lose a lot of money,” David said. “We could use the money and generate revenues for the government.”
The cardinal criticized the logic, comparing it to legalizing illegal drugs to raise government income.
“So I said, why don’t you just legalize shabu (crystal meth) as well?” David said. “Because it’s illegal — so let’s earn from it? That’s the same logic.”
Pagcor has said it enforces safeguards to prevent minors from accessing gambling websites. But David dismissed those efforts as ineffective.
“Really? Digital natives — you think you can control their access to anything online?” he asked. “I’m sorry, but I do not agree that you can regulate something criminal. It is criminal through and through.”
David, bishop of Kalookan, also warned of the broader threat posed by various forms of addiction, from gambling to social media, calling it a danger to families and young people.
“Addiction is slavery in disguise,” David said.
“How many families have been destroyed by gambling debts? How many young people spend hours scrawling, seeking validation in likes and shares, losing the capacity to be present, and losing even their social skills to build natural friendships,” he added.
The CBCP has earlier called on the government to outlaw all forms of online gambling, calling it “a deep and widespread moral crisis” affecting the country.
In the pastoral letter, the bishops also urged authorities to tighten oversight of online payment systems to prevent their use in gambling.
