A nation addicted: The scourge of gambling

That “we are doomed — unless we wake up,” as Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David had warned, should be enough to jolt us into deep reflection on how come it has been easier to foster gambling addiction than to build a society with dignity and moral clarity.

- FORMER SENATOR ATTY. JOEY D. LINA

Instead of forging paths toward purposeful livelihood, why has greed been allowed to define our economy? Instead of a predatory system that lures Filipinos into vice, why not pursue the kind that sees beyond revenues and never loses sight of what truly matters: A generation that still believes in a future built on hard work, not on luck.

Many Filipino families have been torn apart as breadwinners gamble away savings, pawn household items, and incur mounting debts just to recover gambling losses. Children of gambling addicts often suffer neglect, emotional trauma, and insecurity.

Studies reveal that “two out of three gambling addicts will engage in illegal acts to pay for their gambling debts” and that for every troubled gambler, “at least 10 other family members, friends, and colleagues are also directly affected,” all dragged into the same downward spiral an addicted gambler undergoes.

Suicides and violence are also common consequences of compulsive gambling. One of the most gruesome events happened in 2017 where a lone gunman, depressed by a P4 million gambling debt at the time of the tragedy, went on a burning shooting and rampage, killing 37 people at the casino before shooting himself dead.

The link between gambling and crime is also undeniable. Stories of theft, fraud, and even murder tied to gambling have become all too common. Most chilling of them are the still unresolved cases of missing sabungeros which have been tossed into the limelight anew.