Philippine President calls out for participation in gambling

The controversial Philipinne President Rodrigo Duterte turns to unusual means to try to lessen the economic consequences of the Corona pandemic. He calls out to his population to take part in gambling, because participation in gambling brings money in the empty state coffers. Up till a while ago, Duterte had demonised gambling. His sudden change of heart could therefore cost the President his credibility.

Rodrigo “Rody“ Roa Duterte has already made several gaffes through his political career. A few weeks ago, in the Philipinne capital city Manila, he was then campaigning for more acceptance of the gambling sector. It is strange, because up to some time ago, the head of state had demonised participation in gambling. Legalising gambling without a functioning player protection and information programme is obviously dangerous. Only recently, we reported about a Gambling addict who lost around 150,000 Euro within a very short time in an online casino.

“Get going and gamble“

His wording “get going and gamble“ leaves little space for interpretation. On the opposite: Duterte is more precise and says: “Now that we need money, it is most sensible to encourage such activities.” To be more precise, since mid-July, the Philippine population may participate in gambling without great restrictions. Bluntly said, by that argument, one could also fully liberalise drug trafficking, because even through the latter, one can also generate a high income from taxes. 

The Philippines like all other countries have to fight the economic consequences of the Corona pandemic. Since the pandemic, tourism above all things, has nearly collapsed. Therefore, the coffers of the state are now empty. The Philippine head of state is now trying to increase the income from taxes through gambling activities. For this reason and in this context, Duterte warned the gambling companies that they should pay their taxes due.

Casinos were allowed to open during Lockdown

Whilst other shops had to close during the second Corona wave, surprisingly the Chinese casino operators were allowed to open by the Philippine head of state. In a much older article, we asked, whether players will change their behaviour during the lockdown. Whilst even religious facilities in the Philippines had to close, guests were allowed to continue playing and sitting at Roulette- or Blackjack tables. This created resentment, among others, with the Archbishop of Ozamis, Martin Jumoad.

“Once the only Christian nation of East Asia, the Philippines are becoming the mainland of gambling in the Far East."

In December of last year, we reported about the introduction of a 5 % betting tax on cockfights. These have been traditionally held in the Philippines for a long time,

Conclusion

It is of course highly questionable, whether it is a good decision, to liberalise gambling without any restrictions and to do it suddenly in the middle of an economic crisis. At the end of the day, many people in the Philippines are struggling with the consequences of the Corona pandemic and are themselves in a precarious financial situation. Therefore it is definitely not a good idea, both for gamblers and for the state, to start gambling in grand style and to put one’s hopes on gambling.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/philippinen-flagge-land-symbol-4613148/