Senate bill seeks to penalize ticket scalpers
A bill penalizing ticket scalpers has been filed in the Senate.
Sen. Mark Villar vows to go after ticket scalpers with Senate Bill No. 2873, or the "Anti-Ticket Scalping Act."
"Inihain po natin ang panukalang batas na ito upang matigil na o masugpo ang lumalalang scalping sa bansa na sumasantala ng ating mga kababayang concertgoers o avid fans. Hindi na po makatuwiran ang pagpapatong ng 'di makataong halaga sa mga concert at events ticket ng mga scalper na ito," he said.
Villar added that the measure aims to provide concertgoers with fair ticket access.
"Hindi po nila deserve ang walang habas na pananamantala ng mga scalper. Every fan and every Filipino deserves to enjoy concerts without being extorted by scammers."
Under the proposed law, offering, hoarding, selling, distributing, buying, dealing in, disposing of, or acquiring admission tickets for events without written permission from the authorized organizer to resell them for 10% higher than the face value price is prohibited.
Offering or selling tickets without providing the ticket's original price and selling tickets on unauthorized reselling platforms will also be penalized.
Penalties for individuals found guilty of ticket scalping are as follows:
- First offense - P100,000 or six months imprisonment, or both
- Second offense - P250,000 or one-year imprisonment, or both
- Third and subsequent offense - P500,000 or three-year imprisonment, or both
In his explanatory note, Villar said that at least 154 concerts were scheduled in the Philippines in 2024. Revenue from these music events rose from P1.6 billion in 2017 to P1.9 billion in 2018.
Quezon City and Pasay City have anti-ticket scalping ordinances. Villar said the new measure hopes to fill the lack of legal protection against ticket scalping nationwide.
With the measure, government agencies do not need to wait for someone to file complaints to prosecute scalpers.
"Ang DOJ, DTI, DILG, pati na ang mga law enforcement agency gaya ng PNP at NBI ay maari na ring maging complainant," Villar said.
