Recto favors higher taxes on online gambling

Recto said the current GGR is approximately ₱200 billion, with the government collecting 30 percent via the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), five percent through the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and three percent allocated for Pagcor's auditing costs.

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"So of the ₱200 billion, you’re collecting around 30 percent—₱60 billion. If we increase that by 10 percent, that’s ₱20 billion a year," Recto told reporters.

Pagcor’s GGR on the e-games and e-bingo sector reached P51.39 billion in the first quarter. This sector accounted for 49.4 percent of the local gaming industry’s total of P104.12 billion during the period.

It can be noted that the e-games and e-bingo sector, for the first time, became the top contributor to the industry’s total revenues for the period.

Pagcor chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco expects total gambling-related revenues to expand by 15 percent this year to between P450 billion and P480 billion, from the record GGR of P410.5 billion in 2024.

Recto argued that banning online gambling entirely could push all operations underground, hurting government revenues.

He explained that around 60 percent of the market is already illegal, while the legal share has grown from a mere five percent to 40 percent.