Maybank: Threat of total ban on Philippines online gaming is real, more clarity from President Marcos likely Monday

Malaysian investment bank Maybank has warned that the threat of a total ban on the Philippines’ domestic online gaming, or eGames, sector is real given that political noise is similar to before recent bans on eSabong and POGOs.

While Maybank stressed that tighter regulations rather than an outright ban appears to be the “more sensible” choice, local analyst Raffy Mendoza observed in a Friday note that a ban was still very possible. As such, considerable uncertainty continues to surround the eGames industry and is weighing down the stocks of those companies involved.

More clarity is expected following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday – which will also happen to represent one year since the President first announced the ban on POGOs.