The bet behind the boom: gambling addiction in the Philippines is outpacing the state's response

Desk note: the Monexus culture desk framed this piece around the regulatory architecture rather than the moral panic, in line with how the South China Morning Post's 11 June 2026 reporting is structured. Wire coverage has tended to focus on individual cases; the framing here asks what the system's design tells us about the limits of a regulator that also operates the industry it polices.