The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) recently clarified that the National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP) involved in a hacking incident does not contain the names of gambling addicts.
In a statement, PAGCOR indicated that the NDRP is primarily used to compile information on illegal or restricted individuals, including government officials, individuals who have applied for self-exclusion, and persons blacklisted by licensed operators. The database is maintained by the Gaming Licensing and Development Department and currently records over 560,000 entries, mainly sourced from the Ministry of Interior and local government agencies. Most of those listed are public officials legally prohibited from entering casinos.
Vina Claudette Oca, Assistant Vice President of PAGCOR, emphasized that there are 1,711 individuals excluded from the database due to formal requests by themselves, their families, or licensed operators, but this does not imply that these individuals have gambling addiction issues. She pointed out that the NDRP is not a "gamblers' list" and is continuously being updated and refined.
Regarding recent online rumors claiming that the "National Gambling Addicts Registration System was hacked," PAGCOR stressed that the data breach did not originate from its official website but from a licensed institution authorized to access the database for internal screening. PAGCOR emphasized that such rumors are inaccurate and misleading, potentially causing confusion to the public understanding.
This statement reaffirms that the primary function of the NDRP is regulation and compliance, not recording individual health conditions or gambling habits.
