“Pedro” was tearful as he began to speak. “I really want to stop. My life is already being affected,” the 30-year-old said in Filipino.

It was July 10 and Pedro’s first time to attend a session of Recovering Gamblers Philippines, a nonprofit established to help and guide compulsive gamblers in overcoming their addiction and regaining control of their lives. With him at the table under the calming lights of a restaurant in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, were three other persons similarly troubled.

In the ranks of gamblers now running in the hundreds of thousands, they are among the few who are trying to break away from a life made miserable by multimillion-peso debts, worsening physical and mental health, and strained relationships with families and friends.

Compulsive or addicted gamblers are no longer able to control the urge to make a bet no matter the consequences. But despite hitting rock-bottom, they can still recover and make their way up. The first step in healing is admitting an addiction and seeking help, like Pedro did, according to Reagan Praferosa, founder of Recovering Gamblers Philippines.

“First, you need to stop,” Praferosa, speaking in Filipino, told CoverStory. “You need to have a reason to stop. And then, while you’re stopping, you need to accept that gambling is overpowering you.”

Recovering Gamblers Philippines, which now has over 300 members nationwide, seeks to promote a safe space where people can “find solace, understanding, and the tools they need to rebuild their lives.” It holds in-person weekly sessions for groups of 15 in Alabang, Quezon City, Pampanga, Baguio City, and other places, as well as daily online sessions via Zoom. (It maintains a 24-hour hotline 0917-509-4080.)

Among its functions is to accept gambling addicts who want to quit. “That is our tradition and our biggest purpose,” said Praferosa, himself a recovering gambler.

Accessibility

More and more Filipinos are being drawn to betting, especially now that it has become more accessible on online gambling sites.

Around 70% of Recovering Gamblers Philippines members have done online gambling. Many, like Pedro, were lured in by celebrity influencers.

In a report released in 2024, DigiPlus Interactive Corp., the operator of some of the biggest online gambling platforms such as Bingo Plus, Arena Plus, and Game Zone, said there were over 40 million users in the country. That’s more than half of the 75.94 million Filipino voters who registered for the 2025 midterm elections.

Users are not simply exposed to online gambling ads in every platform in the internet; they can now access any game and play with ease, and can even bet directly from their e-wallet apps.

The painful truth is that when one wakes up in the morning, one’s phone is right there, Praferosa remarked, adding: “You can access gambling so easily… Another sad thing is that the minimum bet here is so low. There are also pre-credits. These are all computer-generated figures, right? They even advertise that you get free ₱500 credit when you play. That’s what gets people hooked.”

Government actions

In the face of this growing social problem, Malacañang has announced it will not oppose new measures to help limit online gambling and will study ways to develop more effective regulation. (Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s declared an outright ban on Pogos, or Philippine offshore gaming operators.)

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Risa Hontiveros have filed bills seeking tighter control on online gambling, the removal of access to gambling sites from e-wallets, and the limitation of gambling ads both online and in public spaces.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri’s own measure seeks a complete ban on all online gambling websites. But Alejandro Tengco, CEO and chair of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), has posed opposition and suggested stricter regulation instead, citing the billions of pesos in government revenue that e-gaming has generated through the years.

According to Pagcor reports, it generated ₱51.39 billion from online gambling in the first quarter of 2025, or nearly equivalent to the ₱58.16 billion it earned in 2023, and around a third of the ₱154.51 billion e-gaming income in 2024.

As of June 30, Pagcor has issued licenses to 64 gaming system administrators. Twelve casinos have their own licensed online gaming platforms. Still, thousands of unlicensed gaming sites are operating in the country. In June alone, Pagcor took down over 7,000 such sites.

But a total ban may further strengthen illegal gambling, warned Hannah Nario-Lopez, a sociology professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

“If you totally ban something—and this has been a pattern of many laws—if you criminalize something, there will be an underground economy,” Nario-Lopez told CoverStory.

She said influencers should be held responsible for the products they promote online and offline. She suggested the formation of an ethics board that would prohibit these personalities from advertising gambling.

In a press conference on July 11, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, warned influencers against promoting illegal gambling sites. But it stopped short of issuing such a warning to those promoting e-gaming sites licensed by Pagcor.

Nario-Lopez said the government should equip the concerned agencies with the right knowledge to effectively curb online gambling addiction. She pointed out that compulsive gambling should be viewed as a behavioral issue requiring therapy and help. She said compulsive gamblers were not born gamblers, and their behavior may be a result of an environment that exposed them to gambling and that honed a desire for enjoyment or a better life.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories about people from all walks of life, whether educated or not, whether professionals or day laborers,” Nario-Lopez said. “They got hooked on online gambling because they see it as a form of enjoyment. They justify their playing; they think they will be able to recover from it and they will be able to [regain their losses] in the future.” 

Happiness and other feelings

Pedro’s early memories of gambling were from the carnival games of his childhood. He said it became his biggest problem later in life, after being blinded by the possibility of getting rich from it.

“I first saw it from the influencers who were gambling,” he said. “I saw that they were winning, and I thought maybe I’ll be able to win, too. Some of my friends also post about their wins online.” 

Pedro became addicted to playing in casinos. The money aspect eventually became secondary to the thrill that gambling provided. He tried online gambling, but kept returning to the casinos.

According to Praferosa, the games deepen their influence on players because they trigger the five major feelings of happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and disgust.

“The trick in gambling is that it will make you focus on money and your determination to win or recover your losses,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it fulfills your feelings, your emotions. Gambling becomes a pathway to all the emotions. That’s the trick, that’s the adverse effect, and that’s why people get addicted.”

From Praferosa’s own experience, recovery is possible. He said he experienced being buried under millions of pesos in debt and losing himself and his relationships with his loved ones, but he was able to redeem himself one day at a time.

He said those addicted must be consistent and resilient in their efforts to avoid relapse, and must develop a system that will slowly improve their physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being.

“They can be helped,” Praferosa declared. “But our approach is segmented. They must first accept that they have a problem. This is a relapsing business. This is a sickness. So, they must first sober up for at least 90 days.”

Jeremy Ballesteros, a third-year journalism student at the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication, is an intern at CoverStory.ph.