A year after a single jeepney ride turned into one of the most talked-about social media moments on gambling in the Philippines, Canadian-Filipino content creator Kyle “Kulas” Jennermann is again drawing attention to the issue—this time pointing to what he describes as a fresh wave of advertising that has crept back into Filipino daily life.
In a post marking the anniversary, the BecomingFilipino vlogger said the conditions that disturbed him in 2025 have not gone away. He noted that promotional material for online betting is once more visible across the country, citing billboards that have gone up again, a flood of ads on social media, and endorsements tied to pageants, tourism destinations, and celebrities. “A lot of billboards are up again. A lot of online ads are flooding social media again. Pageants are sponsored, tourism destinations have logos, celebrities are endorsing and hosting,” he wrote.
His warning comes ahead of a congressional hearing he says is scheduled for June 2 at 10 a.m., where the House Games and Amusements Committee is set to take up a batch of measures targeting the industry. According to Jennermann, the committee will tackle seven House resolutions and 39 House bills covering proposals that range from “Prohibiting advertisements of online gambling platforms” to “Prohibiting all forms of advertising of online gambling.” Among the measures, he said, is one aimed at “Prohibiting social media personalities and/or influencers, digital creators, media personalities, and celebrities from advertising, promoting or endorsing online gambling platforms or companies.” He said the proceedings should be streamed live on social media.
The vlogger was candid about the limits of what has actually been accomplished. While he acknowledged that some things have shifted “in a positive way” over the past year, he said no legislation has cleared the full process and been signed into law. He attributed part of that to competing national concerns, observing that the gambling debate “had its ‘viral time’… and then faded away.”
The renewed attention traces back to June 2025, when Jennermann shared what he called the saddest jeepney ride of his life. Seated directly behind a driver he estimated to be in his late fifties, he watched the man—whom he referred to as “Manong”—repeatedly turn to his phone during stops to play Bingo Plus. “When we had a really long stop, he kept loading 50 peso with GCash, losing it quickly, and reloading…” Kulas wrote, describing how the driver appeared to lose a day’s earnings within minutes. That account spread rapidly and helped push the accessibility of online gambling, and the volume of advertising behind it, into national conversation.
Responses to his latest post reflected how personal the issue remains for many Filipinos. Some commenters described relatives whose family relationships and careers had been put at risk by gambling addiction, while others compared the pull of online betting to dependence on alcohol or cigarettes. A few expressed frustration that the alarm was being sounded loudest by a foreigner rather than by prominent Filipino public figures.
Jennermann framed the upcoming hearing as a reason for cautious optimism after twelve months of stalled momentum. “It has been a year. Happy to hear that laws will be talked about this week,” he wrote, signing off the post.
