🇵🇭 Philippines · Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR)

Philippines Online Gambling Licence — 2026

The Philippines is now a domestic-only market. Offshore gaming was banned by executive order in 2024 and criminalised by statute in October 2025; PAGCOR accredits Gaming System Administrators whose platforms serve players in the Philippines only, at a 30% share of e-casino revenue plus a monthly minimum fee.

Tier 3 — Emerging / recently liberalised

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) regulated Asian iGaming through two principal frameworks: PIGO (Philippines Inland Gaming Operators) for domestic Philippine customers, and POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) for international markets. The POGO framework attracted hundreds of operators serving primarily Chinese, Asian, and global markets from Philippine offices.

In July 2024 President Marcos ordered the phase-out of POGO licences by 31 December 2024, and Executive Order 74 followed in November 2024. The ban then moved from executive act to statute: Republic Act 12312, approved on 23 October 2025, declares offshore gaming unlawful and makes it a crime. That distinction matters for anyone weighing the risk, because a statute is not reversed by the next administration the way an executive order can be. Domestic online gaming continues through PAGCOR-accredited Gaming System Administrators serving players in the Philippines.

Quick facts

Regulator	Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation ↗
Tier	Tier 3 — Emerging / recently liberalised
Licence types	Gaming System Administrator (GSA) accreditation — the platform, games and online gaming platform, per game offering, Gaming Venue Operator licence — the venue that offers the GSA's games on site and online, POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) — abolished and criminalised by Republic Act 12312 of 23 October 2025
Application cost	PHP 5,000,000 per game offering (GSA accreditation, non-refundable) + performance cash deposit of PHP 25,000,000 (one offering) or PHP 50,000,000 (two or more)
Annual cost	No fixed annual fee for a GSA; PAGCOR share on GGR, with a minimum guaranteed fee of PHP 9,000,000 a month (GSAs with e-casino) or PHP 3,000,000 (without) from 1 July 2026, rising to PHP 10,500,000 / PHP 4,000,000 from 1 January 2027
Gaming tax	PAGCOR share of 30% of GGR for electronic casino games (25% e-bingo, 15% live sports and online poker) + 10% audit fee on the share; 33% of GGR in all for e-casino
Corporate tax	25% standard
Substance	Philippine corporation; servers in a Tier 1 data centre in the Philippines or on cloud services; live-dealer studios in the Philippines only; non-Philippine IP addresses blocked
Timeline	No published deadline; no new online gaming licences under a moratorium since March 2024 (PAGCOR chairman, August 2026)

Pros

Established Asian iGaming jurisdiction
PAGCOR has institutional supervisory experience

Cons

No offshore route at all: conducting, supplying, hosting or leasing to offshore gaming is a criminal offence carrying six to twelve years
High cost versus offshore alternatives
Reputational concerns from the POGO era

Best for

Asia-focused operators with Philippine presence
Domestic Philippine iGaming

Offshore gaming is now a criminal offence, not a lapsed licence

POGOs were established in 2016 to bring offshore gambling operations conducted from Philippine territory inside a framework. At their peak roughly 60 licensees employed more than 30,000 workers, serving mainly Chinese and other Asian customers, and the framework drew criticism over alleged links to trafficking, money laundering and diplomatic friction with China. The phase-out ordered in July 2024 revoked the licences. Republic Act 12312 of 23 October 2025 went further and banned the activity itself. Section 4 prohibits conducting or offering offshore gaming, acting as a gaming content or services provider, creating hubs or sites, using gaming equipment, and leasing property or digital platforms for any of it. Section 13 sets six to eight years and a fine for a first offence, rising to twelve years and PHP 50 million, with deportation and a permanent re-entry ban for foreign nationals. Section 18 repeals Republic Act 11590, the offshore gaming tax law, so the tax regime that used to make the route viable no longer exists either. Read the practical effect plainly: there is no Philippine offshore licence to buy, and the supply chain around one is itself criminalised.

The domestic route: Gaming System Administrator and venue operator

PAGCOR's current frameworks do not issue an online licence on its own. A licensed Gaming Venue Operator offers games on site and online, and the system, games and online platform come from a PAGCOR-accredited Gaming System Administrator (GSA) (Regulatory Framework for the Accreditation of Gaming System Administrators, Rev. No. 0, effective 2 October 2025). A GSA pays a non-refundable PHP 5 million accreditation fee per game offering, posts a performance cash deposit of PHP 25 million for one offering or PHP 50 million for two or more, and must be a Philippine corporation with PHP 100 million authorised and PHP 25 million paid-up capital stock. Its platform must block every non-Philippine IP address and accept no registration or bet from outside the Philippines. Once live, it pays PAGCOR a share of gross gaming revenue: 30% for electronic casino games and virtual sports, 25% for e-bingo, 15% for live sports and online poker (Fees and Rates framework Rev. No. 5, effective 8 January 2026), plus an audit fee of 10% of the share. Since 1 July 2026 the monthly bill is never below the minimum guaranteed fee. PAGCOR's chairman said in August 2026 that no new online gaming licences will be issued for now, under a moratorium dating from March 2024.

Application process

Incorporate a Philippine corporation with PHP 100 million authorised and PHP 25 million paid-up capital stock
File the GSA accreditation application with the Annex A documents, including a PHP 50 million bank certification and the IP-blocking and server-location disclosures
Pay the PHP 5 million accreditation fee per game offering
PAGCOR site inspection and walkthrough of the gaming system and online platform; probity checks
PAGCOR Board approval and Certificate of Accreditation
Post the performance cash deposit and obtain the Notice to Commence Gaming Operations

Operational realities

Capital requirements

GSA applicants: PHP 100 million authorised and PHP 25 million paid-up capital stock, plus an original bank certification of at least PHP 50 million (GSA framework Annex A). Performance cash deposit PHP 25 million for one game offering, PHP 50 million for two or more.

Player protection

PAGCOR responsible-gambling framework, self-exclusion mechanisms, deposit limits, age-verification.

Banking & payment processing

Major Philippine banks (BDO, BPI, Metrobank) bank PAGCOR-licensed operators. International payment processing more complex.

B2B vs B2C licensing

The Gaming System Administrator supplies the platform to licensed venue operators and is itself accredited; game content providers, aggregators and support service providers need their own PAGCOR accreditation, and a GSA may use only accredited B2B providers.

Recent developments (2025-2026)

Republic Act 12312, the Anti-POGO Act of 2025, was approved on 23 October 2025. It bans offshore gaming outright (s.4), criminalises acting as a content or service provider, running a hub, holding gaming equipment or leasing property or digital platforms for the activity, sets penalties of six to twelve years with fines to PHP 50 million and deportation for foreign nationals (s.13), and repeals Republic Act 11590, the law that used to tax offshore licensees (s.18). Domestic licensing continues, on new terms: since 1 July 2026 every accredited Gaming System Administrator pays the higher of its PAGCOR share or a minimum guaranteed fee of PHP 9 million a month with e-casino games (PHP 3 million without), rising to PHP 10.5 million and PHP 4 million on 1 January 2027 (EGLD memoranda of 15 December 2025 and 21 May 2026). PAGCOR's list of accredited GSAs fell from 65 on 4 December 2025 to 59 on 8 October 2026.

How it compares

Versus other Asian: PAGCOR-domestic is one of the few regulated Asian iGaming frameworks. Most Asian markets remain unregulated or grey-market.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Philippine POGO licences?

They were revoked in the phase-out that ended on 31 December 2024, and the activity was then banned by statute. Republic Act 12312 of 23 October 2025 makes offshore gaming unlawful and criminal, and repeals the offshore gaming tax law.

Can I still get a Philippine gambling licence?

Only for the domestic market, and PAGCOR's chairman said in August 2026 that no new online gaming licences will be issued for now. Platforms are accredited as Gaming System Administrators serving players in the Philippines only. There is no offshore route, and supplying or hosting one is an offence under Republic Act 12312.

What does PAGCOR charge an online gaming platform?

A Gaming System Administrator pays PHP 5 million per game offering to be accredited and posts a PHP 25-50 million deposit. Then it pays 30% of e-casino GGR (15% live sports) plus a 10% audit fee on that share, and since 1 July 2026 at least PHP 9 million a month if it offers e-casino games.

Compare and define

Licence cost benchmarks to compare Philippines against — application fee, annual renewal, gaming tax and the all-in first-year figure.
How Philippines compares with 35 other jurisdictions — cost, tax, timeline and reputational tier, grouped by tier.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation — Philippines gambling regulator and casino operator; accredits domestic online platforms, offshore licensing ended 2024.

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