In the Philippines, in an effort to reduce the number of minors who are entering casinos, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) issued an advisory on Dec. 6 revealing that any such establishment found to be granting access to individuals 21 and under will risk losing its license.

According to reports, the advisory will be effective beginning January 1, 2018.

The regulator has reportedly not specified via the advisory what in terms of the number of violations would lead to a casino’s loss of license or whether the ban would take immediate effect. However, what is known via the advisory is that penalties are set by the regulator for those who allow entry to other prohibited persons including government officials and their immediate family and individuals on the National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP).

Allowing access to the casino to those individuals will result in the operator being fined PHP 100,000 ($1,983) per violation.

Also banned from gambling are those individuals who possess a gaming license, who are either indirectly or directly involved in gaming operations. Loan sharks/financiers are also banned in all PAGCOR-regulated and operated gaming establishments.

PAGCOR is in the midst of a transition that will see it divest its land-based casinos and move to a regulator-only capacity with Congress taking over its licensing powers. Soon, PAGCOR will auction off 35 of its satellite gaming facilities and 13 of its Casino Filipino locations. Upon completion, it is expected that PAGCOR will be renamed the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Authority (PAGA).