FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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,ilJL 22 A9 :14 
SENATE 
S.No. 1853 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Gambling has been condemned by the Church as a bane to the welfare of the people. 
Instead of saving his few pesos for his necessities, Juan dela Cruz is often tempted to part with 
his precious money and gamble them away in masiao,jueteng, and other illegal games of chance. 
This vice has already been modernized. It can now be found in the internet, the 
information superhighway to which millions of people are hooked. As even minors traverse the 
sites of the World Wide Web, the possibility of kids being enticed to gamble is high because of 
the tempting prizes that are awarded, like vacation trips, computers, cars, and even cash. Indeed, 
one can never know if the gambling site is just a scam to milk money out of the victim. 
At present, there are no regulations on the Internet concerning gambling. It is up to each 
country to form their own laws prohibiting or regUlating Internet gambling within their own 
jurisdictions. 
This bill seeks to prohibit internet gambling, to protect the citizens of our country from 
the cheats preying on people easily lured by the promises of beautiful gifts and large amounts of 
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money. 
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• This bill was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 
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5H,ATE 
FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
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QFFlCE. (.Ir 1't-!" Sf eRE; A AV 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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SENA1.E 
S:No. 
1~53 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
PROHIBITING INTERNET GAMBLING 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act may be cited as the "Internet Gambling Prohibition 
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Act." 
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SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the term: 
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(A) "Bets or wagers" means the staking or risking by any person of money, articles of 
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value or representative of value upon the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting 
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event, or any game or scheme, whether upon chance or skill, upon an agreement or 
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understanding that the person or another person will receive something of value 
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based on that outcome. The term includes the purchase of a chance or opportunity to 
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win a lottery or other prize, which opportunity to win is ,predominantly subject to 
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chance; and any scheme ofa type described in Presidential Decree No. 1602. 
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The term does not include does 110t include a bona fide business transaction 
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governed by the securities laws for the purchase or sale at a future date of securities, 
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as that term is defined in our securities laws; contract of indemnity or guaranty; or a 
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contract for life, health, or accident insurance. 
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(B) "Closed-loop subscriber-based service" means 
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(1) Any information service or system that uses a device or combination of 
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devices expressly authorized and operated in accordance with our laws, 
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exclusively for placing, receiving, or otherwise making a bet or wager; and by 
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which a person located within Philippine jurisdiction must subscribe to be 
authorized to place, receive, or otherwise make a bet or wager, and must be 
physically located within Philippine jurisdiction in order to be authorized to 
do so; 
(2) An effective consumer verification and age verification system, expressly 
authorized and operated in accordance with our laws, in which jurisdiction it 
is located, to ensure that all applicable legal and regulatory requirements for 
lawful gambling are met; and 
(3) Appropriate data security standards to prevent unauthorized access by any 
person who has not subscribed or who is a minor. 
(C) "Foreign jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction of foreign country or political subdivision 
thereof. 
(D) "Gambling business" means a business that is conducted at a gambling establishment, 
or that: 
(1) Involves the placing, 'receiving, or otherwise making of bets or wagers; or the 
offering to engage in the placing, receiving, or otherwise making of bets or 
wagers; 
(2) Involves one (1) or n:ore persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise, 
direct, or own all or part of such business; and 
(3) Has been or remains in substantially continuous operation for a period in 
excess of ten (10) days or has a gross revenue of Twenty Thousand Pesos 
(P20,000.00) or more from such business during any 24-hour period. 
(E) "Information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager" means information that is 
intended by the sender or recipient to be used by a person engaged in the business of 
betting or wagering to accept or place a bet or wager. 
The term does not include 
(1) Information concerning parimutuel pools that is exchanged exclusively 
between or among one (I) or more racetracks or other parimutuel wagering 
facilities licensed by the government or approved by the foreign jurisdiction in 
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which the facility is located, and one (1) or more parimutuel wagering 
facilities licensed by the govermnent or approved by the foreign jurisdiction in 
which the facility is located, if that information is used only to conduct 
common pool parimuYuel pooling under applicable law. 
(2) Information exchanged exclusively between or among one (1) or more 
racetracks or other pari-mutuel wagering facilities licensed by the government 
or approved by the fo.reign jurisdiction in which the facility is located, if the 
information is used only for processing bets or wagers made with that facility 
under applicable law; 
(3) information exchanged exclusively between or among one (1) or more 
wagering facilities that are located within the country and are licensed and 
regulated by our laws, and any support service, wherever located, if the 
information is used only for the pooling or processing of bets or wagers made 
by or with the facility or facilities under applicable law; 
(4) any news reporting or analysis of wagering activity, including odds, racing or 
even results, race and event schedules, or categories of wagering; or 
(5) any posting or reporting of any educational information on how to make a bet 
or wager or the nature of betting or wagering. 
(F) "Interactive computer service" means any information service, system, or access 
software provider that uses' a public communication infrastructure or operates in 
interstate or foreign commerce to provide or enable computer access by multiple 
users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides 
access to the Internet. 
(G) "Internet" means the international computer network of interoperable packet 
switched data networks. 
(H) "Parimutuel" means a system of betting in which those who bet on the winner share 
the total stakes minus a small percent for the management. 
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(1) "Person" means any indivitlual, association, partnership, join venture, corporation, 
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State or political subdivision thereof, or any other government, organization or entity, 
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including any governmental entity. 
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(J) "Private network" means a communications channel or channels, including voice or 
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computer data transmission facilities, that use either-
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(1) Private dedicated lines; or 
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(2) The public communications structure, if the infrastructure is secured by means 
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of the appropriate private communications technology to prevent unauthorized 
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access. 
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(K) "Subscriber" means any person with a business relationship with the interactive 
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computer service provider through which such person receives access to the system, 
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service or network of that p~ovider, even ifno formal subscription agreement exists; 
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and includes registrants, students who are granted access to a university system or 
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network, and employees who are granted access to the system or network of their 
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employer. 
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SECTION 3. Gambling Businesses Prohibition. - Subject to the provisions of Section 4, 
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it shall be unlawful for a person engaged in a gambling business to use the Interuet or any other 
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interactive computer service to -
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(A) Place, receive, or otherwise ,make a bet or wager; or 
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(B) Send, receive, or invite information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager. 
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SECTION 4. Applicability.-
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(A) In General. - The prohibition in Section 3 shall not apply to -
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(1) Any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received or otherwise made 
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wholly intrastate for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office lotto, if 
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(a) Each such lotto is expressly authorized, and licensed or regulated, 
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under applicable state law; 
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(b) The bet or wager is placed on an interactive computer service that uses 
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a private network; and 
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(c) Each person placing or otherwise making the bet or wager is 
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physically located when such bet or wager is placed at a facility that is 
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open to the general public; 
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(2) Any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received, or otherwise made 
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on an intrastate basis on a live horse race, or the sending, receiving, or 
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inviting of information assisting in the placing of such bet or wager, if such 
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bet or wager, or the. transmission of such information, as applicable, is -
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(a) Expressly authorized, and licensed or regulated by applicable laws; 
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(b) Placed on a closed-loop subscriber-based service; and 
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(c) Subject to the regulatory oversight and minimum standards for the 
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accounting, regulatory inspection, and auditing of all such bets or 
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wagers transmitted; 
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(3) Any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received, or otherwise made 
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for a fantasy sports league game or contest. 
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(B) Inapplicability to Bets or Wagers Made by Agents or Proxies. - Paragraph (A)(I) 
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does not apply in any case in which a bet or wager is placed, received, or otherwise 
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made by the use of an agent or proxy using the Internet or an interactive computer 
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servICe. 
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(C) Rule of Construction. - Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prohibit the 
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owner operator of a parimutuel wagering facility that is licensed by the state from 
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employing an agent n the operation of the account wagering system owned or 
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operated by the parimutuel facility. 
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SECTION 5. Interactive Computer Service Providers. -
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(A) Eligibility. -
For the purposes of this section, an interactive computer service 
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provider is described in this paragraph only if the provider has established and reasonably 
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implements a policy that provides for the termination ofthe account of a subscriber of the service 
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system or network of the provider upon the receipt by the provider of a notice described in 
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Section 5, paragraph (4). 
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(B) Use of Facilities or Services. - Nothing in this law may be construed to impose, or to 
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provide any basis for, liability against' an interactive computer service provider described in 
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paragraph (A) whose facilities or services are used by another person to engage in an activity 
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prohibited by that Section-
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(I) Arising out of any transmitting, routing, or providing of connections for the 
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material or activity including intermediate and temporary storage in the course of such 
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transmitting, routing, or providing connections by the provider, if-
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(a) The material or activity was initiated by or at the direction of a person 
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other than the provider; 
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(b) The transmitting, routing, or providing of connections is carried out 
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through an automatic process without selection of the material or 
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activity by the provider; 
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( c) The provider does not select the recipients of the material or activity, 
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except as an automatic response to the request of another person; and 
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(d) The material or activity is transmitted through the system or network 
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of the provider without modification of its content; or 
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(2) With respect to material or activity at an online site residing on a computer 
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served owned, controlled, or operated by or for the provider, unless the provider fails to 
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comply within a reasonable time with a notification under section 5, paragraph (4) with 
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respect to the particular material or activity at issue. 
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(C) Protection of Privacy. - Nothing in this section may be construed to Impose or 
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authorize an obligation on an interactive computer service provider, described in paragraph (A), 
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to-
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(1) Monitor material or use of its service; or 
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(2) Except as required by an order of the court, to gain access to, or remove, or to 
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disable access to material in any case in which such conduct is prohibited by law. 
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CD) Notice to Interactive Computer Service Providers. -
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(1) In General. - If an interactive computer service provider receives from a law 
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enforcement agency, acting within its jurisdiction, a written or electronic notice described 
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in subparagraph (D)(2) that a particular online site residing on a computer server owned, 
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controlled, or operated by or for the provider is being used to violate any provisions of 
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this Act, the provider shall not be liable if, in a reasonably expeditious manner-
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(a) The provider removes or disables access to the material or activity 
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residing at that online site that allegedly violates this Act; or' 
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(b) If the provide does not own, operate or control the site at which the 
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subject material or activity resides, the provider notifies a law 
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enforcement agency of recipient of such notice; and, upon receipt of a 
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subpoena, the· provider will cooperate with the law enforcement 
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agency in identifying the person or persons who control the site. 
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(2) Notice. - A notice is described in this subparagraph if it-
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(a) Identifies the material or activity that allegedly violates this Act; 
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(b) Provides infonnation reasonably sufficient to pennit the provider to 
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locate the material or activity; 
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( c) Is supplied to any agent of a provider, if infonnation regarding such 
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designation is readily available to the public; and 
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(d) Provides information that is reasonably sufficient to pennit the 
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provider to contact the law enforcement agency that issued the notice, 
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including the name of the law enforcement agency; and the name and 
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telephone number of an individual to contact at the law enforcement 
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agency, and, if available, the electronic mail address of that individual. 
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SECTION 6. Penalties. - A person engaged in a gambling business who violates any 
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provisions of this Act shall be fined in an amount equal to not more than the greater of the 
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amount that such person received in bets or wagers as a result of engaging in that business in 
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violation of this Act or Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,000.00); imprisoned not more than 
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Four (4) years; or both at the discretion of the court, taking into consideration the relevant 
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circumstances of the case. 
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SECTION 7. Permanent Injunctions. - Upon conviction of a person under Section 6, the 
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court may, as an additional penalty, enter a permanent injunction enjoining the transmission of 
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bets or wager or information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager. 
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SECTION 8. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
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valid and subsisting. 
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SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
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order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rules or regulations or part thereof, contrary to or 
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inconsistent with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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