MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Thursday he would halt all online gambling in his country.

Duterte made the comment while announcing a 2017 budget that focused heavily on populist measures. He gave no timeframe for such a ban or details on its scope.

The firebrand former mayour has been a worry for the country's booming online gambling industry and in August scrapped one firm's 13-year monopoly of gambling in licensed online cafes.

The Philippine gambling industry is one of Asia's most freewheeling, attracting many online foreign companies over the last decade to set up servers aimed at overseas punters, and has lured investments of billions of dollars in casino resorts.