Hawkplay and Family Support: What a Relative Can Do
Family support for a gambler means talking early and privately, protecting household money and, if they keep playing, filing PAGCOR's family exclusion request for 6 months, 1 year or 3 years with IDs, photos and a birth or marriage certificate.
Key facts and contents
- Hawkplay Players Who Need an Accountability Partner
- An accountability partner is one person you trust who sees your gambling spend, hears from you before any new deposit and checks in on a fixed day.
- Hawkplay and Debt
- Gambling turns into debt when you chase losses with money meant for bills, then borrow to cover the gap.
Family support for someone who gambles too much has three parts: the conversation, the household money and, when they keep playing, a family exclusion request to PAGCOR. This page puts them in the order you will need them. If the gambling has already led to a slip after a promise to stop, the craving signs a family can spot page lists what to watch for.
Start family support with one calm conversation
Talk privately, once, and plan it. A crowded dinner table turns concern into an ambush.
- Choose a quiet time when neither of you is tired, angry or in the middle of a bill.
- Describe what you saw, in specifics: the missed payment, the borrowed money, the nights out.
- Say what you feel and what you want, with no ultimatum you will not keep.
- Offer a next step you can do together, such as calling the helpline on speaker.
- End with a date to talk again, so the conversation is not the only one.
Gamblers Anonymous lists signs you can recognise from the outside: gambling longer than planned, borrowing or selling things to gamble, difficulty sleeping and arguments that end in an urge to play. PAGCOR’s own warning signs add missed bills and relationships that suffer. Name the behaviour, not the person.
Protect household money while you wait
Support is not the same as paying. Bailing out a loss usually funds the next bet.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Keep rent, food, school and utilities on a separate account the gambler cannot draw on | Handing over cash “one last time” |
| Ask for a statement review together, weekly | Searching their phone in secret |
| Pay a bill directly to the biller | Paying a lender who calls with threats |
| Write down amounts you have lent | Promising to keep a debt secret |
If money has already been borrowed, the debt that gambling leaves a household page covers the first steps for the whole family.
PAGCOR family exclusion: what it does
PAGCOR runs a family exclusion programme for loved ones who need help with problem gambling. The order covers all sites that PAGCOR operates, licenses or regulates, and the excluded person’s name goes into PAGCOR’s National Database of Restricted Persons.
| Detail | What PAGCOR’s form says |
|---|---|
| Who applies | A spouse, a parent or an adult child |
| Periods | 6 months, 1 year or 3 years |
| When it ends | Lifted automatically after the period |
| Winnings | The respondent cannot collect winnings or recover losses while the order runs |
| Re-application | A new form with the re-application box ticked |
The form is RG Form 3, number GLDD-890, revision 6, effective 24 August 2026. By signing it the applicant also holds PAGCOR harmless from any damages claim by the excluded relative. A family order does not cover a site that PAGCOR neither licenses nor regulates, so check any site you worry about at pagcorguarantee.ph before you rely on it.
Steps to file a family exclusion request
Gather the papers first; PAGCOR says an application with incomplete requirements may not be processed.
- Download PAGCOR’s Family Exclusion Application Form and print it in block letters.
- Add a photocopy of your own government photo ID with signature and birthdate.
- Add a photocopy of the respondent’s government photo ID with signature and birthdate.
- Add two 2x2 colour photos of the respondent, taken within the last 6 months, full face, with no hat, glasses or face mask.
- Add the proof of relationship: the respondent’s birth certificate if you are their parent or child, or the marriage contract or certificate if you are their spouse.
- Send everything to
[email protected]or leave it at the drop box in the MET Live Building, Central Business Park 1-A, Macapagal Boulevard corner EDSA Extension, Pasay City.
If someone else submits the papers for you, PAGCOR asks for a selfie or video call to confirm. Questions about the form go to the same e-mail address.
Where families get help for themselves
You carry weight too, and PAGCOR’s list of accredited help centres includes a group for relatives. Gam-Anon Philippines, at gam-anonphilippines.org, supports family and friends of people who gamble. The National Problem Gambling Helpline on (02) 8248-9568 takes calls from families and loved ones, around the clock and free, though it is not an emergency line.
If someone at home speaks of self-harm, call the NCMH crisis hotline on 1553 or 1800-1888-1553 now. Once the crisis passes, bring in one trusted person to share the checking; the accountability partner for a relative’s recovery page shows how. To set spending caps together, start with the loss limit meaning for households entry.
FAQ
Who can file a family exclusion request with PAGCOR?
A spouse, a parent or an adult child of the person who gambles. The applicant fills in PAGCOR's Family Exclusion Application Form, which calls the relative the applicant and the person to be excluded the respondent.
Does the person need to agree to a family exclusion?
PAGCOR's form is signed by the applicant, not by the respondent. It does ask for the respondent's own ID, two recent photos and a birth or marriage certificate, so you need access to those papers.
How long does a family exclusion last?
You choose 6 months, 1 year or 3 years on the form. When the period ends the order is lifted automatically, and the family member can re-apply by ticking the re-application box on a new form.
Saan puwedeng tumawag ang pamilya para sa tulong?
Tumawag sa National Problem Gambling Helpline sa (02) 8248-9568. Tumatanggap ito ng mga pamilya at mahal sa buhay, libre at confidential, pero hindi ito emergency line. Para sa kapamilya ng sugarol, may Gam-Anon Philippines din na nakalista ng PAGCOR.