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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS'OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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j!j!. 27 1'5 :rx 
First Regular Session 
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'Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
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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, etc. 
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 vacatioii 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. 
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This bill seelcs to prohibit Internet gambling, to protect the citizens of our country 
from the cheats pre ing on people easily lured by the promises of beautiful gifts and large 
amounts of money., r 
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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
2 r  -G ; 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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’Or: .iiil.. 27 I .3 . .I. 
First Regular Session 
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Be it enacted by the 
assembled: 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act may be cited as the “Internet Gambling Prohibition 
Act of 2004.” 
SECTION 2. Definition ofTerms. - As used in this Act - 
(1) “Bets or wagers” - 
(A) means the staking or risking by any person of money, articles of value or 
representative of value upon the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting event, 
or any game or scheme, whether upon chance or skill, upon an agreement or 
understanding that the person or another person will receive something of value 
based on that outcome; 
(B) includes the purchase of a chance or opportunity to win a lottery or other prize 
(which opportunity to win is predominantly subject to chance); 
(C) includes any scheme of a type described in Presidential Decree No. 1602; and 
(D) does not include - 
(i) 
a bonafide business transaction governed by the securities laws for 
the purchase or sale at a future date of securities, as that term is 
defined in ow securities laws; 
contract of indemnity or guaranty; or 
a contract for life, health, or accident insurance. 
(ii) 
(iii) 
(2) “Closed-loop subscriber-based service” means any information service or system that 
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uses - 
(A) a device or combination of devices - 


(i) 
expressly authorized and operated in accordance with our laws, 
exclusively for placing, receiving, or otherwise making a bet or 
wager; and 
by 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; 
(ii) 
(B) 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 
(C) appropriate data security standards to prevent unauthorized access by any person 
who has not subscribed or who is a minor. 
(3) “Foreign juhdiction” means a jurisdiction of foreign country or political subdivision 
(4) “Gambling business” means a business that is conducted at a gambling establishment, or 
thereof. 
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that - 
(A) involves 
(i) 
(ii) 
the placing, receiving, or otherwise making of bets or wagers; or 
the offering to engage in the placing, receiving, or otherwise malting 
of bets or wagers; 
(B) involves one (1) or more persons who conduct, finance, manage, supervise, 
direct, or own all or part of such business; and 
(C) 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,OOO) or 
more from such business during any 24-hour period. 
(5) “Information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager” 
(A) 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; and 
(B) does not include - 
(i) 
information concerning parimutuel pools that is exchanged 
exclusively between or among one (1) or more racetracks or other 
parimutuel wagering facilities licensed by the government or 
approved by the foreign jurisdiction in which the facility is located, 
and one (1) or more parimutuel wagering facilities licensed by the 
government or approved by the foreign jurisdiction in which the 
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facility is located, if that information is used only to conduct 
common pool parimutuel pooling under applicable law. 
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 foreign 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; 
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 infomation is used only for the pooling or 
processing of bets or wagers made by or with the facility or facilities 
under applicable law; 
any news reporting or analysis of wagering activity, including odds, 
racing or even results, race and event schedules, or categories of 
wagering; or 
any posting or reporting of any educational information on how to 
make a bet or wager or the nature of betting or wagering. 
(6) “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. 
(ii) 
(iii) 
(iv) 
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(7) “Internet” means the international computer network of interoperable packet switched 
data networks. 
(8) “Parimutuel” means a system of betting (as on a horse race) in which those who bet on 
the winner share the total stakes minus a small percent for the management. 
(9) “Person” means any individual, association, partnership, join venture, corporation, State 
or political subdivision thereof, or any other government, organization or entity 
(including any governmental entity). 
(10)“Private network” means a communications channel or channels. 
Including voice or computer data transmission facilities, that use either - 
(A) private dedicated lines; or 
(B) the public communications structure, if the infrastructure is secured by means of the 
appropriate private communications technology to prevent unauthorized access. 
(1 1)”Subsciber” 
(A) means any person with a business relationship with the interactive computer service 
provider through which such person receives access to the system, service or network 
of that provider, even if no formal subscription agreement exists; and 
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(B) includes registrants, students who are granted access to a university system or 
network, and employees who are granted access to the system or network of their 
employer. 
SECTION 3. Gambling Businesses Prohibition - 
Subject to section 4, it shall be unlawful for a person engaged in a gambling 
business to use the Internet or any other interactive computer service - 
(1) to place, receive, or otherwise make a bet or wager; or 
(2) to send, receive, or invite information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager. 
SECTION 4. Applicability. 
(1) In general - Subject to paragraph (2), the prohibition in section 3 does not 
apply to 
(A) any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received or otherwise 
made wholly intrastate for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office lotto, if 
(i) 
each such lotto is expressly authorized, and licensed or regulated, 
under applicable state law; 
the bet or wager is placed on an interactive computer service that 
uses a private network; and 
each person placing or otherwise making the bet or wager is 
physically located when such bet or wager is placed at a facility 
that is open to the general public; 
(ii) 
(iii) 
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(B) any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received, or 
I otherwise made on an intrastate basis on a live horse race, or the sending, 
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receiving, or inviting of information assisting in the placing of such bet or 
wager, if such bet or wager, or the transmission of such information, as 
applicable, is - 
(i) 
expressly authorized, and licensed or regulated by applicable 
laws; 
placed on a closed-loop subscriber-based service; and 
subject to the regulatory oversight and minimum standards for 
the accounting, regulatory inspection, and auditing of all such 
bets or wagers transmitted; 
(ii) 
(iii) 
(C) any otherwise lawful bet or wager that is placed, received, or 
otherwise made for a fantasy sports league game or contest. 
(2) Inapplicability to bets or wagers made by agents or proxies - 


I (A) In general - Paragraph (1) (A) does not apply in any case in which a bet 
or wager is placed, received, or otherwise made by the use of an agent or 
proxy using the Internet or an interactive computer service. 
(B) Rule of construction - Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 
prohibit the owner operator of a parimutuel wagering facility that is licensed 
by the state from employing an agent n the operation of the account wagering 
system owned or operated by the parimutuel facility. 
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SECTION 5 .  Interactive Computer Service Providers - 
(1) Eligibility - For the purposes of this section, an interactive computer service 
provider is described in this paragraph only if the provider has established and reasonably 
implements a policy that provides for the termination of the account of a subscriber of the 
service system or network of the provider upon the receipt by the provider of a notice 
described in section 5, paragraph (4). 
(2)Use of facilities or services - Nothing in this law may be construed to impose, 
or to provide any basis for, liability against an interactive computer service provider 
described in paragraph (1) whose facilities or services are used by another person to 
engage in an activity prohibited by that section - 
(A) arising out of any transmitting, routing, or providing of connections 
for the material or activity including intermediate and temporary storage in the 
course of such kansmitting, routing, or providing connections by the provider, if - 
(i) 
(ii) 
(iii) 
the material or activity was initiated by or at the direction 
ofa person other than the provider; 
the transmitting, routing, or providing of connections is 
carried out through an automatic process without 
selection of the material or activity by the provider; 
the provider does not select the recipients of the material 
or activity, except as an automatic response to the request 
of another person; and 
the material or activity is transmitted through the system 
or network of the provider without modification of its 
content; or 
(B) with respect to material or activity at an online site residing on a 
computer served owned, controlled, or operated by or for the provider, unless the 
provider fails to comply within a reasonable time with a notification under section 
5, paragraph (4) with respect to the particular material or activity at issue. 


(3) Protection of privacy -Nothing in this section may be construed to impose or 
authorize an obligation on an interactive computer service provider described in 
paragraph (1) to - 
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(B) except as required by an order of the court, to gain access to, or 
remdve, or to disable access to material in any case in which such conduct is 
prohibited by law. 
(4) Notice to interactive computer service providers- 
(A) monitor material or use of its service; or 
(A) In general - If an interactive computer service provider receives from 
a law enforcement agency, acting within its jurisdiction, a written or electronic 
notice described in subparagraph (B), that a particular online site residing on a 
computer server owned, controlled, or operated by or for the provider is being 
used to violate any provisions of this Act, the provider shall not be liable if, in a 
reasonably expeditious manner - 
(i) 
the provider removes or disables access to the material or 
activity residing at that online site that allegedly violates 
this Act; or 
if the provide does not own, operate or control the site at 
which the subject material or activity resides, the provider 
notifies a law enforcement agency that - 
(I) 
(11) 
(ii) 
recipient of such notice; and 
upon receipt of a subpoena, the provider will 
cooperate with the law enforcement agency in identifying the 
person or persons who control the site. 
(B) Notice - A notice is described in this subparagraph if it - 
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(ii) 
provides information reasonably sufficient to permit the provider 
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identifies the material or activity that allegedly violates this Act; 
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to locate the material or activity; 
is supplied to any agent of a provider, if information regarding 
such designation is readily available to the public; and 
provides information that is reasonably sufficient to permit the 
provider to contact the law enforcement agency that issued the 
notice, including - 
(iii) 
(iv) 
(I) 
(II) 
the name of the law enforcement agency; and 
the name and telephone number of an individual to contact at 
the law enforcement agency, and, if available, the electronic 
mail address of that individual. 


SECTION 6. Penalties. - A person engaged in a gambling business who violates any 
provisions of this Act shall be - 
(1) fined in an amount equal to not more than the greater of - 
(A) the amount that such person received in bets or wagers as a result of 
engaging in that business in violation of this Act; or 
(B) Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,OOO); 
(2) imprisoned not more than Four (4) years; or 
(3) both. 
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SECTION d. Permanent Injunctions. - Upon conviction of a person under section 6, the 
court may, as an additional penalty, enter a permanent injunction enjoining the transmission of 
bets or wager or information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager. 
SECTION 8. Separability Clause. - If any provision, or part hereof is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rules or regulations or part thereof, contrary to or 
inconsistent with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved. 
FN 1654