Cebu Representative Karen Hope Garcia has introduced House Bill 10982, called the Online Gambling Advertising Prohibition Act of 2026, in an effort to ban iGaming ads in the Philippines.
The proposal, which was filed on August 26, 2026, covers the advertisement, promotion, endorsement, and sponsorship of online gambling, seeking to prohibit them from television, print, billboards, radio, smartphone apps, and websites. According to the language of the bill, regulated operators would only be allowed to display limited information on their platforms for registered players.
Representative Garcia shared:
“This bill tells the industry it can’t chase our children and our vulnerable families into their own homes to sell them on it. In this day and age, commercials for gambling are already on cellphones, which are like a 24-hour casino, so it needs to be stopped. The ‘Online Gambling Advertising Prohibition Act of 2026’ that I filed is not just for now, but also for the future.”
Additionally, celebrities, affiliates, and content creators would be restricted from entering into gambling promotion agreements with operators, while gambling brands would be required to set 21 as the minimum age and conduct biometric and identity verifications.
In case of violations, celebrities and affiliates would be ordered to repay the amounts they were paid to promote the iGaming brands and could further be banned from other forms of gambling endorsements for 3 to 5 years. Media companies and advertising firms would also be fined up to $800 daily for breaches.
