Leading online gaming operator DigiPlus Interactive Corp. is seeking to find a middle ground with lawmakers where there will be enough regulation but not to the point of stifling the business of licensed operators and even encouraging illegal operations to go legit.

In a media talk after the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting, DigiPlus Chairman Eusebio Tanco said legitimate operators are open to the government adding “a little bit more regulation, because if you over-regulate the money, it migrates to the illegal.”

“There is a balance where you can regulate so that you can attract the illegal to apply for licenses to be legalized,” he said.

Despite the current controversy surrounding online gaming, Tanco said it is still business as usual for DigiPlus, which has over 40 million registered users.

“Operationally, we were not affected. It's the stock price that has been affected… We're still on target… We're behaving. We're following the rules. We're legal. We follow all the rules and regulations. We are a listed company. We have good corporate governance. We report every single cent of our revenue. We pay all the taxes we need to pay,” he noted.

However, DigiPlus President Andy Tsui said they are continuously studying various proposals for additional regulations in the online gaming sector, such as the proposed increase in the minimum cash-in amount to ₱ 10,000 and the minimum top-up amount to ₱5,000.

“Certainly there will be some impact, but we're still analyzing it. But one thing I want to highlight is this, if minimum top-up is set too high, we are pushing some of players to the black market… and this is not good for the government,” said Tsui.

He explained that, “black market operators, they don't follow any procedures, and they don't have eKYC (electronic know your customer), they don't have to comply with the minimum top-up. So, if the amount is set up too high, certainly it's not good for the industry, and also they (government) will lose the revenue.”

Tanco said gambling is not likely to go away in the Philippines, given that it is in the DNA of the people.

“It will not go away. It will just shift from the legal to the illegal, or from the illegal to the legal. I think what we want, what every one of us wants, is that the legal will shift to the legal. I think that's the best,” he said.

Tanco noted that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation recorded ₱154 billion in gross gaming revenues last year, accounting for 38 percent of total GGR, and the amount has reached ₱92 billion in the first five months of 2025, equivalent to 53 percent of total GGR registered by Pacgor.

“Now if they really legalize everything, legalize the illegal sector of the gaming industry, we could easily raise another ₱200 billion to ₱300 billion. That should be easy. That will help us in our income tax collection,” he said noting that regulated online gaming operations likely accounts for just 30 percent of the total market.

Tanco said “You have 70 percent out there that is unregulated, that is unmonitored, mostly no consumer protection. They don't play by the rules. Those are the illegal.”

Meanwhile, DigiPlus said that, should the government ban e-wallets from having direct links to online gambling apps and online gambling promotions, consumers will only shift to alternatives.

“The reason is that, for convenience, if the entry is removed from the e-wallets, of course, the players will find other ways. They know the brand names. They will search it. They will enter from Google. I think there's no significant difference if you enter from the e-wallet or elsewhere,” said Tsui.