Researchers mapped 4,300+ fake FIFA domains, a Chinese-speaking group running pixel-perfect FIFA clones, fake betting sites harvesting passport scans, and pirate streams that install malware — and the FBI has issued a warning. Days from kickoff, here's the threat map for Filipino fans and the concrete steps to stay safe.
PAGCOR is moving to split the two jobs it has held since 1976 — regulating gambling and running its own Casino Filipino chain. The decoupling now awaits the GCG's recommendation, expected within weeks, before going to the Office of the President. A privatized Casino Filipino could raise PHP 30–50B. The administrative route to the split Senate Bill 2814 would also legislate.
PAGCOR says 93.8% of the 13,399 illegal sites it has flagged are now blocked, up from 74% two months earlier, driven by an AI detection tool. The agency admits it can't kill every site — it's banking on the repeated friction of blocking to steer casual bettors toward licensed operators, just as World Cup search traffic spikes.
A reconstructed account of the parallel-regulatory architecture that CEZA and APECO operated under their own founding charters, the CEZA-PAGCOR distinction that the agency still emphasizes, and what EO 74 changed in 2024.
Where the displaced quarter of Philippine gambling activity went after the August 2025 BSP delinking order — sari-sari store cash-in infrastructure, the e-sabong shadow that never closed, and the Atong Ang case anchoring the political-economy backdrop.
A reconstructed account of one path from Manila to a compound on the Cambodian coast — and what the journey reveals about a regional labor market in transition.
DigiPlus's PAGCOR-licensed sportsbook ArenaPlus signed a multiyear collaboration with the NBA on April 27, 2026, becoming the league's first official betting partner in the country. Integrated NBA branding, localized marketing, Playoffs-tied free-to-play games.
DigiPlus and other PAGCOR-licensed operators launched the PlaySafe Alliance the same week Chairman Tengco told SiGMA Asia that regulators and operators must strengthen safeguards — a genuine consumer step, and the industry's argument it can regulate itself against the Senate's live ban debate.
The Philippines' dominant online gaming operator posted Q1 2026 net income of PHP 2.82 billion, down 33 percent year on year, on revenue down 25 percent to PHP 17.24 billion. The first cleanly post-delinking comparison quarter.
Ex-POGO workers are salvaging 32-port GSM "text blasters" from abandoned sites and selling them on social media. These fake cell sites hijack nearby phones to push scam SMS past every filter. What the device is, why the 2024 ban keeps feeding the scam economy, and how to protect yourself.
