Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday renewed his call for a total ban on e-sabong and online gambling following a Senate Committee on Games and Amusement hearing that exposed the continued spread of illegal digital betting platforms despite aggressive enforcement efforts.

During the committee hearing on February 11, 2026, authorities reported monitoring and blocking thousands of illegal gambling websites, with tens of thousands more taken down monthly as operators shift URLs and move operations offshore.

Cayetano said the pattern confirms what he has long warned about: that regulation alone cannot keep up with the scale and speed of online gambling.

“Even without any cost benefit analysis, it’s a scientific fact that an addiction that is openly offered and made available to people who are susceptible to that addiction. We have to speak up because the future of our country and the future of our children and their children depend on us. Let us not let this new pandemic threaten and destroy our values,” he said in a statement.

While regulators highlighted compliance measures such as stricter Know-Your-Customer rules, advertising restrictions, and penalties reaching hundreds of millions of pesos, illegal e-sabong platforms continue to operate beyond Philippine jurisdiction.

A long-time critic of gambling and the only senatorial candidate in the 2022 elections who ran on an anti-gambling platform, Cayetano argued that the government should not focus solely on revenues from gambling operations but must also consider the broader social costs.

He warned that the accessibility of digital platforms makes online betting particularly dangerous, especially for young people.

“Gambling is addictive. Using the internet is addictive. If you put the two together, you can do that kind of gambling anywhere and anytime. Napaka delikado nito para sa atin,” he said.

The Senate hearing also brought out the nature of illegal e-sabong operations, with some platforms operating outside the country’s jurisdiction, making enforcement more difficult.

Cayetano said these developments strengthen the case for stronger policy action.

“Kailangan nating putulin ang ugat ng problema. What the government earns from these online gambling operations pales in comparison to the losses the people incur in terms of gambling debt, crime, the breakup of families, and much, much more. He said.###