Betting in the Philippines was current since the nineteenth century,[1] and is still widespread in the nation today. Currently, it takes on various legal and illegal forms found almost all over the archipelago. The government manages gambling through the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) that intends to regulate and operate games of chance, and to generate government funds,[2] but there are also other public and private agencies that handles specific forms of betting. Specifically, casino gambling under PAGCOR is essential to the nation’s tourism and earnings. The Philippines has more casinos than Macau, with twenty located in Metro Manila alone.
Before the Spanish colonization.,[1] gambling is said to have been within the Philippines. Even though there are no specific records when gaming was first practiced in the archipelago, it is possible that a few forms were introduced by the Chinese in the late nineteenth century. Because of the proximity of the two nations, many local Chinese would go to the Philippines for both business and profit, engaging in various transactions and activities. [4][5] On Magellan’s voyage into the Philippines, it was noted in the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta, that he had already witnessed bets being placed on cockfights if his boat came in Palawan at 1521.

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