THE PHILIPPINE Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) said that it is considering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in monitoring illegal gambling websites, as lawmakers call to either regulate or ban these platforms.
“We will be launching an AI tool that will detect illegal gambling websites every second,” PAGCOR Assistant Vice-President for Offshore Gaming Licensing Department Jessa Mariz R. Fernandez told senators on Tuesday.
The Senate Committee on Games and Amusement is currently conducting a probe into the proliferation of online gambling platforms, which has led to a rise in gambling addiction and debt.
Ms. Fernandez added that the PAGCOR will sign an agreement with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to implement the program.
“We are also coordinating with CICC, NTC, and DICT so that these websites can be blocked quickly,” she said. “Now, with the help of AI-powered tools, we can monitor illegal gambling websites.”
PAGCOR added that since the delinking of electronic wallets (e-wallets) and banks, to online gambling operations, its revenues from online gambling operations dropped by nearly 50% after the first two weeks of the order.
“We confirm that there was an effect. This is based on income for the two weeks after the delinking, so we experienced around 40% to 50% decline in income after delinking from the payment platforms,” Ms. Fernandez said without providing exact figures.
The Philippines central bank, last month, ordered all electronic wallets, banks and other supervised institutions to remove in-app gambling assets, including any links that direct users to gaming or gambling websites.
Meanwhile, the Senate committee had also issued a show cause order for Meta Platforms, Inc. after its public policy manager for Facebook Philippines and Representative Officer did not attend the hearing.
“I want his attendance here, otherwise this committee will be forced to send a subpoena for him,” Senator Erwin T. Tulfo, who heads the committee, said.
Mr. Tulfo had earlier questioned why online gambling advertisements were still present on Facebook.
In a letter, Facebook Philippines Representative Genixon David informed the committee that their experts won’t be able attend the public hearing, they had proposed a meeting with the senator instead.
“Why are they dictating this committee, when will they attend? If they need to be subpoenaed, subpoena their country representative,” Mr. Tulfo said. — Adrian H. Halili