AMID proposals in Congress to ban online gambling, a liquor chain owner cautioned authorities to heed the lessons of history when dealing with vices.
Ralph Lim Joseph, proprietor of Ralph’s Wines & Spirits, one of the longest-running liquor retailers in the country, said on Thursday that outlawing all forms of gaming online could backfire.
Drawing from many years of experience in the liquor trade, Joseph likened today’s online gaming issues to perennial attempts to stop the selling of alcohol.
“We’ve seen this story before,” Joseph said in a statement. “When liquor was restricted, whether during elections or curfews, people didn’t stop drinking. They just went underground, unregulated suppliers stepped in, quality dropped, safety vanished and the government lost control.”
He went on to cite that Ralph’s, which opened in 1975, has survived multiple policy shifts and public attitude toward alcohol.
“People will always look for comfort, escape or entertainment, especially during hard times,” he said, adding that demand for a product or service “doesn’t go away” because you banned it. “It just shifts into the black market.”
In a similar manner, shutting down legal online gambling platforms poses risks of creating a more dangerous environment, Joseph noted.
“The legal operators today are the ones you can monitor, license and hold accountable. If you shut them down, you’re not killing gambling, you’re handing it over to fly-by-night operators and criminal syndicates with zero regard for consumers,” he explained.
Instead of outright prohibition, Joseph said he favors regulation, enforcement and education.
“We’ve learned in the alcohol business that the most responsible way to manage vice is to regulate it, educate the public and make safety nonnegotiable. That’s how you protect people, not by pretending demand does not exist,” he pointed out.
His opinion comes amid renewed scrutiny of online gambling in the Philippines, particularly offshore platforms and their social impact.
His perspective, he said, has been shaped by decades of dealing with regulation of a product like alcohol and provides a historical lens to an urgent policy debate.
“The story of alcohol regulation in the Philippines, marked by cycles of moral panic, failed prohibitions and eventual reform, offers a precedent for today’s online gaming debate,” Joseph said. “And according to those who’ve lived through it, we can’t afford to ignore the lessons of history.”
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