PAGCOR plans to launch an app that will help online gaming players tell licensed platforms from unlicensed sites, a move the regulator says is aimed at steering users toward regulated operators and away from illegal gambling.
Alejandro H. Tengco, PAGCOR’s chairman and chief executive, announced the plan while testifying before the House Committee on Appropriations during a budget hearing. The app is intended to make it easier for players to check where they can legally play and, in Tengco’s telling, to reduce the risks posed by unregulated operators.
According to BusinessWorld Online, Tengco said about half of the online gaming sites accessed in the Philippines were illegal. He said that had made it difficult for PAGCOR and its law-enforcement partners to keep players within the regulated sector. Tengco also said the app has two main goals: to curb illegal online gambling and to protect players by ensuring they use only platforms licensed and regulated by PAGCOR.
The regulator said the app would also give players a clearer route to redress. Tengco said that when a platform is licensed, there is a process for resolving disputes if problems arise.
The planned tool is meant to build on PAGCOR’s existing verification page, PAGCOR Guarantee, which the regulator established in 2025 to let users check whether an online gaming provider is licensed. PAGCOR said the new app will not replace that page, but will add another way for players to verify a site’s legal status.
PAGCOR is also working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center to pursue illegal online gaming operators. That coordination includes action against payment channels used by unlicensed operators.
The broader anti-illegal-gambling effort is not new. In 2019, PAGCOR said it had entered a Mutual Cooperation Agreement with the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice’s Office of Cybercrime, under Executive Order No. 13, s. 2017. That order was issued to strengthen the fight against illegal gambling and clarify the authority of agencies involved in regulating gambling and online gaming facilities.
PAGCOR said the app is due to be introduced later this year.
