Catholic Bishops in the Philippines say online gambling has become a new plague or virus that is destroying families, and even causing a kind of slavery. While illegal gambling has always existed in the shadows of society, this new crisis takes place in the smartphones of anyone, including children. The cure to this plague needs to come from every level of society, including at the parish level:
Msgr Pedro Quitorio: “It’s become a sickness. With all these addictions, people, children, teenagers are becoming, you know… some, some we hear news of taking their lives because of this, so much debt.”
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Today we will learn about the heated issue of online gambling in the Philippines, and what lessons Catholics anywhere might learn from the example there, especially with the rise of online casinos and sports betting in places like the US.
To be clear, the Church doesn’t say all gambling is wrong or sinful–not at all. But when addiction takes over lives, then the hands and feet of Christ on earth need to be mobilized.
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: “This has become a very strong part now of our new evangelization. It’s a matter of, you know, putting the faith in context now, concretely, by the way people move, because this is affecting even, even our faith, even how we practice our faith.”
The rise of online gambling
In some corners of the internet or even on TV, it can seem impossible to avoid gambling ads. In the US at least, online sports betting has exploded as states have moved to regulate it more, and capture potential tax revenue.
Or some social media influencers will stream high-stakes online slot machine sessions, and win seemingly astronomical amounts. Clips of these wins then sell the dream of winning big.
Maybe these people are winning, or maybe these companies offer influencers money to promote the site.
Having access to gambling of all sorts from the safety of your smartphone is as convenient as it can be risky, especially for impressionable kids.
The Philippines is a country that is generally very Catholic, and very online, especially on social media.
The explosion of online gambling just this year has spiraled into a crisis leading the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to sound the alarm and call for action from the government and the faithful. One of the most troubling issues has been children’s ability to access e-wallets, which can ensnare children and their families in debt.
After all, this is big business and e-games or e-bingo were the biggest chunk of gross gambling revenue in the first quarter of the year at 51.39 billion Philippine Pesos, or nearly 900 million US dollars.
To learn more about this problem, and what the Bishops have said, I interviewed Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, the Director of the Media Office for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
He said this problem has worsened in just the last year, the last months really, and the reactions are coming just as fast. Since this interview, the Philippines Central Bank ordered e-wallets to be decoupled from online gambling, and the issue has been discussed in the media, by lawmakers, and the president.
In listing recommendations though, the Catholic Bishops also called on Catholics to actively help people affected by gambling, which may give some food for thought no matter where you’re watching or listening to this from.
I began by asking the Monsignor to talk about the issue of gambling in the Philippines, and what led the Bishops to take a stand:
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio
[Rough transcript follows]
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: Well, it’s been here for some time now, maybe decades, but it was only lately that we saw, the bishops especially, the extent of this. Because during the time of Duterte for the last six years, the previous president, the gambling here, we call it Pogo, that was an an offshore gambling which was managed by Chinese people, and they were not available for locals. The only gambling that was available for locals were the casinos, you know the regular ones.
And then there is some illegal gambling here and there in regions you see but when the President, the new president stopped, put a stop to the offshore gambling operated by the Chinese, the problem came so big, we were suspecting that maybe this big gambling companies took their facilities and the online gambling thing became very massive. Very massive, so that there was no longer control and we saw in just a couple of months people, children who were just gambling from their cell phones, there was no more regulation because they cannot regulate our cell phone, so they and they were, they were being advertised by by good people, you know, they were romanticizing it you know as a rich earner.
So it went direct to where the child, or the boy, or the kid was, and we saw the results right away. We had families, even for families with so much debt. And we had addicts, children, students, you know, so it was not only something that was for the adult, but for everybody now and without any regulation, it went straight to where the cell phone holder was. There was no control. It came like, wow the the problem is so big. Because there was a priest, his cook whose child who was indebted because the problem was this: there are payment schemes, companies, so that you can enter into the payment companies just to you know click your phone and you are given a credit facility and the parents you just notice that wow, I have hundreds and thousands in debt for the child.
And not only that, we became addicted, I heard we have so many stories of that, many of them, even government workers, who would you know who would be indebted, they would spend government money for, for gambling. Church workers, there will be a lot of them. And sorry to say this, we have learned of some parishes whose workers who were into this, addicted. And we’ve had… with several, you know debts, big ones. This is how massive the problem is. That’s why they could have to, the bishops had to release a statement during the plenary assembly held last July.
Online gambling as a health crisis
Tony Ganzer: Yeah, I mean it, you know, temptation knows no boundaries and it affects everybody really. And what it sounds like from what you’re describing is really this was fast and furious, that it sort of overtook both the faithful and everyone else as a grand temptation, and it’s really breaking up families in a way. Do you think that’s a fair description?
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: It is, it can be described more because in the statement of the bishops, they have like 9 or 8 recommendations and the number one recommendation is to, for everybody, to acknowledge, to recognize that this problem has already become a health problem. That serious. It’s become a sickness. With all these addictions, people, children, teenagers are becoming, you know… some, some we hear news of taking their lives because of this, so much debt, laden with debts. So it has become that massive, that big.
Tony Ganzer: If you look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it doesn’t say that gambling itself is evil, but it does point out that you should only be gambling with money that is not meant for your vocation as a father, as a caregiver, and it sounds like really this situation is totally out of control because I can, kind of hear naysayers say, well, you know, Catholic churches at least in the US, they have bingos, they have raffles, they support gambling. So why would the bishops come out and say this is bad? But that’s not a fair comparison, because it sounds like, as you say, this is a health crisis.
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: Yes, that’s true. And the Universal Catechism is right. It is actually immoral, immoral, the moment it destroys, like you know when the needs of the individual and the family sacrificed to that big extent, then it becomes immoral and then especially if there is some, the word that used in the Catechism was, it kind of lures you into enslavement, or that is the word in the Catechism, we become enslaved to gambling and become addicts and we have some people like that in the US. I have some. I know people who are like that, I know a Filipino nurse living in the US, who has totally destroyed his profession. And you know he’s, he’s right in difficulty right now. So it becomes immoral when it destroys a person, his family and even society.
Gambling a problem everywhere?
Tony Ganzer: Because this is a universal issue, I think that you know countries have different flavors, different orientations of this problem. In the US especially, we’re seeing a lot of online casinos, yes, but sportsbooks and sports betting is taking over phones and it seems like phones are the conduit here, because it it gives companies direct access to people. And often we’re holding our phones, it seems, in times of vulnerability, perhaps because we’re in our homes. Is there anything you think that the Philippines, the way that the bishops are approaching this, that Catholics everywhere can really learn from, and maybe devise a strategy or think differently about this problem for where they are?
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: Well, we are so, so much, so long to go yet because we are only, the realization is only beginning. That’s why in the recommendation that there was number 1 was to make people aware of the problem and to see the problem as health issue and then to negotiate with with legislators with local governments, you know, because thegovernment gambling agencies would see the gambling online, gambling especially as most beneficial, because of the revenues that they’re getting, but the bishops were saying the revenues, no matter how big is nothing to the destruction that it does to the family and to individuals.
So right now in fact, yesterday or a few days ago, the President of the Philippines has been negotiating that something has to be done. A legislation has to be done. Especially on online gambling, not to give permits unless it’s it’s, you know, to to prioritize the good everybody the common good, especially the good of the family. So the government is studying all this.
In fact, the other day they invited the the Bishops Conference to attend a conference on gambling with, with government leaders and which the this the President of the Bishops Conference, kind of refused, you know why? He said, unless we have to ban, totally online gambling we will not attend. Because we know the problem and we know the only solution is to ban online gambling. We’re not, we’re not banning any gambling, the online gambling because this is the one that’s enslavingeverybody with just a phone, the cell phone, you know, the smartphone. So this is the mind of the bishops. We have to put a stop to online gambling, the other gambling is, OK, the casinos and all the other regular ones, but the online gambling is the one, it’s a malaise, it’s a disease. It’s a problem in society right now. It’s so big as that.
Part of a bigger digital problem?
Tony Ganzer: Yeah. And I think it may be, and I would love your thoughts on this, it may be connected to the bigger issue of the role of technology in our lives and social media. I know social media is very popular in the Philippines, especially for sharing information and, you know, building community, so there’s positive from social media, but increasingly we see the negative. Be it with online gambling or temptations or false information or what have you, it seems like this is such a big problem and I don’t even know where we start. The bishops in the Philippines are saying be aware that it’s a problem that’s a first step. Do we know which steps come next?
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: Well, they they gave like 9 or so recommendations and all of them are good. I have, I myself I really admire the bishops for saying those and one of those bigger one is to control. To talk to the online payment agencies, there are so many very popular because when you’ve got a payment agency collaborating with the children, with the kids and then to stop all these credit facilities online because you don’t know, you’re not talking, you don’t know who you’re talking to when these facilities.
As long as you register even if you are a 7 year old kid, you can have that so the proposal of the bishops to talk with these big companies, corporations, online facilities to put a stop to this, stop the credit facilities, because otherwise you’ll see people who cannot even earn, you know, $5 a day, you know, having debts of like $10,000 in a month. That’s terrible.
Chances for political change
Tony Ganzer: That is terrible. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And it it’s hard to even conceive of a child being able to access that kind of credit. Wow. Do you think I mean how hard a fight is this to get the regulation if you say that it looks like there’s an opening from politicians, is this going to be a long fight to really get something on the books, do you think?
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: I think it is, but the only thing, I see a light in the tunnel because our President is collaborating and he’s looking into this and he has recognized that this is a problem and not only that since we have so many Catholics here, so one of the recommendations of the bishops is for every parish, every parish, and there are about 4000 or less of them throughout the country to not to keep silent, to talk about this. And the second for every parish, to open a facility to help the victims, to help the victims, one by educating them and maybe those that are enslaved with so much debt to help them.
You know, it’s very concrete because otherwise we see a lot of people in depression, su*cidal tendencies because what can you do? A poor guy. What’s next? Yeah, so the bishops are calling all parishes, please let us help. This is a problem. Let’s help solve the problem. This is not a problem of economy or politics or whatever. This has become a problem of the family and therefore there’s so much moral issue with this.
The new evangelization
Tony Ganzer: Yeah, that’s that’s beautifully put that we need to bring it back to people, to the ones who are who are suffering from this affliction, but also the ones that the church were were all supporting each other, trying to get to heaven. And really if this is plaguing our brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s our duty to to help them.
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: That’s right. That’s right. So if if you may maybe, the way our bishops are thinking this has become a very strong part now of our new evangelization. It’s a matter of, you know, putting the faith in context now, concretely by the way people move, because this is affecting even our faith, even how we practice our faith. Because when you have a family is suffering from this, you know, you know what’s next? That’s right. It has become a part of what we do in churches, in, in, in proclamations, in evangelization, in our catechesis. And this is just a couple of months ago, yeah. But we’re talking about years. It’s only months ago.
Tony Ganzer: That is, it’s powerful and it’s transformational and hopefully that transformation is, is for the good. Once everybody mobilizes. Is there anything else you want to mention on this topic or anything? Because I feel like the Philippines, as I said before, you really seem to be at the forefront of both this issue, but also being very active at trying to make positive change.
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio: “Well, the bishops have also asked the help of the media, the legacy, the traditional media and social media. The bloggers like you, and the Catholic, we have Catholic influencers now to work on this and to help because in the mainstream media, without maybe recognizing the gravity of the problem the word used by the bishops is stop “romanticizing” online gambling, because if you do that, it will be very hard for us to, you know, convert, to change what’s becoming part of the culture of our kids.”
Final thoughts
My thanks to Msgr. Quitorio for his time and graciousness in speaking with me about this important topic.
In their message, the Bishops remind us Matthew 16:26. As flashing lights and promises of wealth are around us, we should keep sight of God and what is most important.
“What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”
We all might stumble on our path to Heaven, but we all have talents to help each other get back on track.