Pagcor says casino bans reach 40,000 in six months

Pagcor has enrolled about 40,000 people in its casino-exclusion program during the previous half-year, chair Alejandro Tengco said at an Oct. 11 Boracay launch, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer column.

The increase, compared with about 1,700 before Tengco took over the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., gives the regulator a measurable result for its responsible-gaming campaign as the column said it faces lower revenue this year.

Tengco disclosed the figures during the opening of the Kaban Hotel and Casino in Boracay, the column said. The report did not give Pagcor’s current revenue outlook, a year-earlier comparison or a breakdown by casino type.

“That only goes to show that our system is working,” Tengco said, according to the column. He added that Pagcor was still processing applications.

The exclusion system is designed for casino customers who want to block themselves from gambling venues licensed by Pagcor. It also allows relatives to seek restrictions for family members when they are worried about possible gambling addiction.

Pagcor’s reach matters because it is both the state gaming regulator and a central institution in the Philippines’ legal casino market. The program covers Pagcor-licensed casinos on physical sites and online, according to Tengco’s comments cited by the column.

Tengco said Pagcor opened a 24-hour hotline in April 2026 to support the exclusion program. The hotline is part of the regulator’s stated push to promote responsible gaming, a term used for policies intended to reduce harm linked to gambling.

Approved exclusions last at least one year, Tengco said. The period is intended to give patrons time away from gambling if they believe they have, or may develop, a gambling problem.

The column presented the rise in exclusions as a sign of stronger uptake, but it did not provide data on how many applications came from patrons themselves, how many came from relatives, or how many excluded people later returned to gambling.

For operators, the program highlights a trade-off facing the gaming industry: growth in legal gambling can bring commercial and fiscal benefits, while regulators face pressure to show that consumer safeguards are functioning.

The report also leaves open how Pagcor verifies compliance across licensed land-based and online sites once an exclusion is approved. Tengco’s comments, as reported, focused on enrollment and pending applications rather than enforcement statistics.

Pagcor’s next disclosed step is administrative rather than legislative: Tengco said more exclusion applications remain under review.