The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday (Aug. 14) ordered electronic wallet (e-wallets) firms to unlink from online gambling platforms that are now the object of mounting public protest.

The BSP directive was issued bills proposing to either ban or regulate online gambling havebeen sought for passage in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The BSP decision was welcomed by various anti-gambling sectors, including officials of the Catholic church.

“We gave them 48 hours, your honor, to take down the links,” said BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan in a Senate hearing.

Tangonan said the order was issued before he testified before the Senate.

He explained to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that all online gambling games will no longer involve e-wallets.

“We’re removing the in-app links from the websites,” said Tangonan when asked by legislators led by Sen. Joel Villanueva why BSP still required two days to demand compliance from E-wallet firms.

According to the BSP official similar institutions need time to remove the links to these sites.

He added that consumers should also be given enough time to withdraw their money from their online gaming accounts.