Short answer. Yes. Under Article 196 of the Revised Penal Code, importing foreign lottery tickets or advertisements into the Philippines is a crime, and so is selling or distributing them in connivance with the importer. Even knowingly possessing such tickets with intent to use them is separately punished.
What the law says
any person who shall import into the Philippine Islands from any foreign place or port any lottery ticket or advertisement or, in connivance with the importer, shall sell or distribute the same
Revised Penal Code, Article 196 — Importing Lottery Tickets. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Any person who shall knowingly and with intent to use them, have in his possession lottery tickets or advertisements, or shall sell or distribute the same without connivance with the importer
Revised Penal Code, Article 196 — Importing Lottery Tickets. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The possession of any lottery ticket or advertisement shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to sell, distribute or use the same in the Philippine Islands
Revised Penal Code, Article 196 — Importing Lottery Tickets. Read the full provision →
Importing and distributing foreign lottery tickets
Article 196 targets foreign lottery material. The heavier branch punishes any person who shall import into the Philippine Islands from any foreign place or port any lottery ticket or advertisement or, in connivance with the importer, shall sell or distribute the same. Two roles are covered here: the importer who brings the tickets or advertisements in from abroad, and the person who — acting in connivance with that importer — sells or distributes them. The article treats both the entry of foreign lottery material and its coordinated distribution as the more serious form of the offense.
Possessing or selling without connivance
The article has a lighter branch too. Any person who shall knowingly and with intent to use them, have in his possession lottery tickets or advertisements, or shall sell or distribute the same without connivance with the importer is also punished, though less severely. So even someone who did not import the tickets and did not act with the importer can still be liable if he knowingly possesses them with intent to use, or sells or distributes them on his own. The law reaches the whole chain, from importation down to individual possession and sale.
Possession is prima facie evidence of intent
A practical trap sits at the end of the article: The possession of any lottery ticket or advertisement shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to sell, distribute or use the same in the Philippine Islands. This means that if you are found with such tickets, the law presumes you intended to sell, distribute or use them, and the burden effectively shifts to you to explain the possession. Mere possession, without a satisfactory account, can therefore be enough to support the charge. Keeping foreign lottery tickets "just to have them" is riskier than it may appear.
What the article does and does not cover
Article 196 is specifically about foreign lottery tickets and advertisements — those imported from abroad. Government-authorized Philippine lotteries and sweepstakes conducted under their own charters are a different matter, governed by the special laws that authorize them, not condemned by this article. The provision also punishes the tickets and advertisements themselves, not merely the act of gambling. The court has discretion over the penalty, which combines a term of imprisonment with a fine. The key questions are whether the tickets are foreign, and which role — importer, conniving distributor, or mere possessor — the accused played.