Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva's statement on the Supreme Court decision declaring unconstitutional the 5% franchise tax on gross bets or turnovers from gaming operations for POGOs

We will definitely respect the High Court's decision, no doubt about it.

Despite the Supreme Court's recent decision, POGOs and its service providers are still subject to taxes in accordance with Republic Act No. 11590, including taxes on gaming and non-gaming revenues.

Nonetheless, we still have to re-examine our policy on online gambling. The question remains: does revenue the government generates from POGOs outweigh the social costs of online gambling? We filed Senate Resolution No. 225 precisely to investigate this matter, in the wake of the rising criminal activities that involve POGOs.

It is also for the protection of our morals and values that we have filed Senate Bill No. 1281 to eliminate and prohibit all forms of online gambling activities.

Nirerespeto po natin ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema.

Kahit may ganitong desisyon po ang Korte Suprema, may ipinapataw pa rin pong buwis sa mga POGOs ayon sa Republic Act No. 11590, at kasama po dito ang mga buwis sa mga gaming at non-gaming revenues.

Gayunpaman, kailangan pa rin po nating muling suriin ang ating polisiya sa online gambling. Ang tanong pa rin po natin dito ay ganito: Mas matimbang po ba ang kita ng gobyerno mula sa mga POGO kaysa sa social costs o epekto sa ating lipunan ng online gambling? Ito po ang dahilan kung bakit tayo nag-file ng Senate Resolution No. 225 upang imbestigahan ang usaping ito, sa gitna ng mga ulat ng kriminalidad na sangkot ang mga POGO.

Ang proteksyon din po ng ating moralidad at values ang dahilan kung bakit tayo naghain ng Senate Bill no. 1281 upang tanggalin at ipagbawal ang anumang uri ng online gambling.