PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Ignatius Michael D Ingles and Daphne Marie M Gomez, Law Firm of Ingles Laurel Calderon
1. Athlete Conduct, Integrity and Enforcement 1.1 Anti-Doping Regimes Doping is not a criminal offence in the Philippines. However, the use of WADA-designated “Substances of Abuse” is a criminal offence. The possession, use, sale, and trafficking of cocaine, heroin, methylen - edioxymethamphetamine, and tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis/marijuana) are prohibited under the Com - prehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of the Philippines. On a related matter, doping could be considered prohibited under Presidential Decree No 483, which criminalises any fraudulent, deceitful, unfair or dishon - est means, method, or practice employed to influence the result of any sports contest – as doping could be interpreted as such a dishonest means or method. The National Anti-Doping Organisation in the Philip - pines is the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organiza - tion (PHI-NADO), which is accredited by WADA. The purpose of PHI-NADO is to implement the WADA Code and promote awareness of anti-doping, which it does through educational programmes and co- ordinating with the local national sports associations (NSAs). The Philippine Olympic Committee and the NSAs are responsible for implementing anti-doping measures in their respective sports. Sports leagues are expected to impose punishments for doping offences, but these are difficult to verify, as leagues and sports associations generally do not publish their internal rules or codes of conduct. One noteworthy anti-doping case involved Olympic weightlifter Vanessa Sarno, who received a two-year ban making her ineligible to compete in the 2025 South-East Asian Games, the 2026 Asian Games, and the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships. 1.2 Misconduct and Match-Fixing Presidential Decree No 483 (PD 483) criminalises game-fixing, match-fixing, point-shaving, and game machination in the Philippines. These offences are punishable with imprisonment for a period of up to six years. The sports governing bodies or the NSAs deal with integrity issues through their own internal disciplinary mechanisms and sanctions, without any
prejudice to criminal prosecution by the state under PD 483. The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) is also tasked to investigate game-fixing in professional sports and mete out sanctions against erring players and coaches. In taking additional steps to deal with integrity offenc - es, sports governing bodies and leagues have been reported to engage international independent inves - tigation firms to conduct in-depth investigations of match-fixing with the help of local police. Recent cases involve alleged game-fixing by players of a collegiate basketball team in 2019 and players in a professional basketball tournament in 2021. After investigation, the GAB revoked the professional bas - ketball licences of the players involved in the 2021 incident. 1.3 Betting-Related Offences Sports betting is legal in the Philippines, as long as the sports betting activity or operation is registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corpo - ration (PAGCOR). Established by Presidential Decree No 1869, as amended by Republic Act No 9487, PAGCOR is a government-owned and controlled cor - poration which regulates gambling and sports bet - ting. Would-be sports betting operators must secure a PAGCOR-licence before starting their activities. Those who operate without a licence face sanctions and penalties. The sports governing bodies and the NSAs typically follow the betting-related rules and guidelines of their respective international federations as regards bet - ting-related offences of athletes. There is no public information on whether these NSAs have shared infor - mation with betting operators to protect the integrity of their respective sports. At the time of writing, there have not been any note - worthy betting cases in sports involving athletes and their sports governing body. 1.4 Disciplinary Framework The sports governing bodies or the national sports associations have their own respective internal mech - anisms and procedures for disciplinary proceedings
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