(ZENIT News / Manila, 07.13.2025).- The Philippine Church confronts a society increasingly shaped by digital technology and its bishops have issued one of their most forceful pastoral statements in recent memory—this time not about war or poverty, but about a new and surreptitious threat: online gambling.
Describing it as a “new plague” sweeping through the nation, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), warned of a mounting crisis that is leaving no segment of society untouched. His July 8 declaration frames online gambling not merely as a moral failing or a cultural vice, but as an emerging public health emergency and a social toxin spreading with silent speed.
While the country has seen headline-grabbing scandals involving Chinese-backed POGO operations and e-Sabong cockfighting platforms, David’s message strikes deeper—beyond the scandals, into the very fabric of Filipino homes. The digital face of gambling, he says, is reshaping addiction itself: just one tap on a smartphone or click through an e-wallet is enough to devastate a household.
The moral gravity of the bishops’ appeal is unmistakable. It denounces the illusion of online betting as mere entertainment or a harmless pastime, insisting instead that it is «a sophisticated trap» engineered to ensnare vulnerable populations—especially the young and the poor. The scale is sobering: in 2024 alone, the Philippines recorded roughly 154 billion pesos (over \$2.7 billion) in online gambling revenue, a staggering 165 percent increase from the previous year.
What troubles the Church most is the complicity of silence. Media outlets, tech firms, business leaders, and even members of the government have been largely quiet, the bishops say, often because of the profits at stake. “Exploiting the weakness of others for gain is not business—it is sin,” reads the CBCP’s pastoral letter.
The silence extends into Filipino families and even parish communities, the statement adds, where those affected often suffer alone, ashamed and without resources. The bishops are calling for a national reckoning—urging everyone from lawmakers to clergy to treat online gambling not as a niche concern but as a widespread and deepening wound on the nation’s conscience.
The roots of the crisis go back years. Under former President Rodrigo Duterte, online gambling platforms, particularly POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), were encouraged as a revenue solution in the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the industry quickly devolved, entangling itself in allegations of fraud, money laundering, and even human trafficking. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has since moved to ban POGOs, declaring them fronts for criminal syndicates and ordering the expulsion of thousands of foreign workers associated with them.
One flashpoint came in August 2024 when the young mayor of Bamban, Alice Guo, was suspended over suspected ties to Chinese gambling networks and accused of multiple crimes, including trafficking and espionage. Her case, which ended with her fleeing the country, underscored how far-reaching and complex the web of influence around digital gambling has become.
But for the bishops, it’s not just a matter of law enforcement or diplomacy. It’s about healing a society slowly unraveling under the weight of addiction, secrecy, and digital manipulation. Their vision is holistic: education that inoculates the young, legislation that constrains access, and community-based support systems that offer rehabilitation and hope.
The statement calls on the government to tighten control over digital payment systems, which often serve as invisible highways to gambling platforms. It urges a nationwide campaign to reframe gambling as a serious social disorder. And within the Church itself, it appeals to parishes to become havens for those entangled in addiction—spaces not only of sacrament but of healing.
At its heart, the bishops’ message is a plea for moral clarity in a society increasingly blurred by screens, algorithms, and easy money. It’s a reminder that progress without conscience, and entertainment without restraint, risk collapsing the very relationships on which lives and communities depend.
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