Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima has filed House Bill No. 9171, or the proposed Anti-Ticket Scalping Act, in a push to stop unauthorized resellers from turning high-demand events into overpriced transactions for Filipino fans.
Filed on May 11 before the House of Representatives, the bill seeks to ban the buying, selling, hoarding, distribution, or resale of admission tickets through unauthorized channels when the resale price goes beyond 10 percent above face value. It covers concerts, sports shows, stage performances, beauty pageants, festivals, road shows, fan meets, movie screenings, and similar public entertainment events.
De Lima said ticket scalping should not be treated as ordinary business.
“Malinaw po: Ang ticket scalping ay hindi maituturing na diskarte lang sa pagnenegosyo. Hindi ito dapat ipagkibit-balikat lang kung na-a-afford naman ng pinagbebentahan. Isa itong garapalang pagkatuso, panloloko at panggagantso sa kapwa,” she said.
The bill also targets the tools behind scalping. It would penalize those who finance, manage, or operate scalping activities, as well as those who use automated bots, fake accounts, false identities, multiple accounts, or deceptive technologies to bypass security controls and purchase limits.
Other punishable acts include selling tickets without showing the face value, selling outside authorized reselling platforms, aiding or abetting violations, and attempting to commit prohibited acts.
For main scalping offenses, violators may face a ₱100,000 fine or six months’ imprisonment for the first offense, ₱250,000 or one year for the second offense, and ₱500,000 or three years for the third and succeeding offenses, or both fine and jail time at the court’s discretion.
“We want to restore public trust and ensure that access to live events is determined by fairness rather than the ability of intermediaries to exploit demand for profit,” De Lima said.
