
Rodrigo Duterte, the outspoken and hardline President of the Phillipines, has seemingly backtracked on a softer approach to online gambling regulation and moved to close it down entirely in the country.
In a speech which followed the announcement of the 2017 national budget Duterte stated that he would be “ordering the closure of all online gambling (firms)… All of them. They have no use.”
Duterte did not say anything more about the issue but Justice Secretary, Vitaliano Aguire II, confirmed to Inquirer.net that “the closure order was meant for all online gambling firms”.
As was to be expected the share prices of Philippine operators were...