By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) has partnered with other government agencies and private sector groups to crack down on illegal online gambling sites and file criminal charges against social media influencers who promote illegal gambling.
In a press conference at the CICC headquarters in Quezon City on Wednesday, CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Aboy Paraiso said the Threat Monitoring Center performed a month-long documentation and verification of illegal gambling sites, applications, and their promoters in partnership with civil society organization Digital Pinoys.
“[Ito ay] magsisilbing bala upang mapalakas ang mga kaso laban sa mga digital influencers na walang pakundangan nagpo-promote pa rin ng mga hindi regulated na gambling sites (These will serve as bullets to strengthen our case against digital influencers who wantonly promote unregulated gambling sites),” Paraiso said.
During the event, he formally handed over their findings to Philippine National Police (PNP) – Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) chief Brig. Gen. Wilson Asueta.
Asueta said the operators of these illegal online gambling sites and mobile applications, as well as their promoters, will face charges under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and other related laws.
In addition, they may also face charges such as syndicated estafa and further financial investigations through the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“And kung makakapag-file kami ng kaso, we will also if refer sa AMLC (Anti–Money Laundering Council) (And if we find there’s cause to file a case, we will also refer them to AMLC),” he said.
On the other hand, Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said takedown requests have already been made with Meta to ban social media accounts and pages linked to the promotion of illegal gambling.
While these influencers can appeal the ban through the platform, he noted that none of the reported accounts taken down for illegal gambling have been reinstated.
“They can always appeal sa platform pero dahil mabigat ang kaso nila, mahihirapan sila (to the platform but because they’re violation is serious, it won’t be easy). They could start from scratch,” Gustilo said.
On the other hand, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) senior vice president of the Security and Monitoring Cluster Raul Villanueva called on the public to be vigilant of online gambling platforms and visit their website to check the list of legal and regulated gambling sites.
He said illegal online gambling sites are often scams, where winners will have their accounts shut down without cause or simply be unable to withdraw their winnings.
On the other hand, gambling platforms regulated by PAGCOR are placed under heavy scrutiny to ensure fair play.
“Binabantayan namin ang mga ligal, na susunod sila sa mga regulasyon natin (We monitor legal gambling platforms to ensure they follow our regulations),” Villanueva said.
Fake news on Middle East
On the other hand, Paraiso also warned the public of misleading videos circulating on social media showing attacks in the Middle East amid the recent escalation of conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
“We just want to appeal to our ‘kababayans’ (compatriots), sorry to say that cloutchasers are exploiting the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” he said.
These misleading videos, he said, are just old videos of previous conflicts being recirculated for views and clicks, or in some cases, to ask for donations.
“When in fact, hindi sila (they’re not) affected with what’s happening in the Middle East. We will monitor them, and we can charge them with estafa,” he said.
He called on the public and overseas Filipinos to reach them through their hotline 1326 or any of their social media platforms for concerns related to the CICC and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) as part of an inter-agency partnership. (PNA)
