Philippines New President Set to Tackle Several Gambling Industry Problems

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of Ferdinand Marcos, has been declared the new president of the Philippines and not many people are looking forward to that as his father was a dictator, tied to corruption and brutality. Now, the new president-elect will have to bring vital decisions concerning the country’s gambling industry.

Several Gambling Concerns Will Have to Be Addressed

Marcos Jr.’s father was one of the key people that formed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). The regulator is in charge of overseeing the gambling industry and is responsible for the annual tax revenue of the Philippines. Now, Marcos Jr. will have to take a second look at some of the regulations, one of which is the temporary gaming expansions.

He and his right-hand, Sara Duterte, will have to decide whether these expansions will continue. Not only that, but Marcos Jr. will also have to address the status of cockfighting. Rodrigo Duterte, the previous president of the Philippines and father of Sara Duterte, halted cockfighting as he stated that it leads to numerous types of crimes such as killings and disappearances.

Although Marcos Sr. was known for his brutality, Marcos Jr. and his mother worked hard to earn back the reputation of the family. Just hours after he was declared the winner, he stated that people should judge him by his actions rather than his ancestors. The elder Marcos ruled from 1965 to 1986 and fled to Hawaii after reportedly stealing between $5 billion and $10 billion.

The New President Is Not Welcomed by Everyone

Marcos Jr. and Duerte dubbed themselves as “Uniteam” and they are spreading a message for unity, but not everyone supports them, mainly because of the history of Marcos Jr. Even though he had around 30.8 million votes, hundreds of people protested the outcome.

Not only that but there’s also a lot of controversy surrounding the integrity of the presidential vote. The Philippines Commission on Elections was under scrutiny by anti-Marcos groups who stated that the commission did not protect the election. The former chair of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, Etta Rosales, even stated that during the rule of Marcos Sr., she was raped and tortured.

She stated that many people, including her, were hurt under the rule of Marcos Sr. and now this is likely to happen again with his son being elected. The nearest challenger of Marcos Jr. was vice president Leni Robredo who had 14.7 million votes.

Manny Pacquiao, the recently retired boxing legend, was also among the candidates. He’s been a Senator since 2016, but the election was not successful for him as he had only 4% of the votes.