The proposed Anti-Ticket Scalping Act seeks to end exploitative reselling practices and restore fair ticket access for Filipino fans of concerts, sports, and live shows.
The days of overpriced tickets and shady resellers may soon come to an end as one lawmaker aims to make the Anti-Ticket Scalping Act a priority measure come the 20th Congress.
Aimed at curbing the long-standing practice of ticket scalping in the Philippines, the bill seeks to regulate and penalize the exploitative resale of tickets for concerts, sports events, theater shows, and other live entertainment.
“Labis-labis na patong, biglaang pagkaubos ng tickets, at bentahan sa madilim na sulok ng internet,” Senator Kiko Pangilinan noted as the bill’s principal author.
“Hindi dapat pinagkakakitaan ang kasabikan ng fans,” the senator emphasized. “Hindi dapat nabibili sa sobrang mahal ang saya ng panonood.”
Pangilinan vowed to make the bill one of his 10 priority legislative measures when the 20th Congress convenes on July 28.
The bill comes in response to a growing clamor from sports fans, who have repeatedly aired their grievances online and on the ground.
During the UAAP Season 81 Men's Basketball Finals between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and UP Fighting Maroons, nine individuals were arrested for selling tickets at 10 to 20 times their original price.
Even volleyball fans haven’t been spared, as similar complaints emerged during PVL matches, where demand regularly outstripped supply.
The PBA has also dealt with this issue, particularly in Finals games. During the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup series between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Bay Area Dragons, scalpers were caught selling P450 tickets for as much as P3,000.
[ALSO READ: PBA working with authorities to hunt down scalpers ahead of Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals]
If passed into law, the bill will enforce the following:
- Prohibit the resale of tickets with more than a 10% markup without proper authorization
- Ban online and offline scalping practices
- Establish clear penalties for violators
- Promote fair, accessible, and reasonably priced ticketing for all
Now this is not a novel idea in Philippine legislation.
Ang Probinsyano Party-list Representative Alfred Delos Santos filed the "Anti-Scalping Act" during the 19th Congress in August 2024.
The bill proposed prohibiting the act or attempt of selling or reselling admission tickets in excess of the original cost printed on the face of the document. The penalties ranged from a fine of P100,000 or three months imprisonment up to P300,000 and/or one year of jail time.
However, it remained pending with the House justice panel.
A similar bill was filed by Senator Mark Villar in the Senate in November 2024.
Here, harsher penalties were proposed up to a P500,000 fine along with a year of imprisonment for the third and subsequent offenses.
The act of offering/selling admission tickets without providing the face value price, selling tickets on unauthorized platforms, and aiding in the commission of such acts, were also considered offenses.
However, it remained pending at the committee level of the 19th Congress.