GGRAsia – Charter amendments to delay Pagcor casinos sale to 2026

Charter amendments to delay Pagcor casinos sale to 2026

Sep 12, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Privatisation of gaming venues under the Casino Filipino brand owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), the country’s regulator, is now expected to start in 2026, not mid-2025, says Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco.

In comments to the media, Mr Tengco said Pagcor’s charter would have to be amended first.

“We still have to amend the charter of Pagcor. So next year will be allocated for the amendments,” he added, as quoted by the Philippine Star news outlet.

Regarding the privatisation effort, the official noted: “There are a lot of things to do. It’s not as easy as we thought it would be. And our priorities include modernisation, the lessors.”

Mr Tengco told reporters that the disposal of Pagcor casinos was likely to generate about PHP50 billion (US$891.3 million). That is a figure lower than a PHP60 billion number previously mentioned, which was itself reduced from an earlier PHP80 billion that Pagcor had mentioned.

“Initially, I thought it was going to be big. But unfortunately, I realised that we do not own any property, we’re just leasing,” Mr Tengco said, as cited by the Philippine Star.

This week Mr Tengco also said that Casino Filipino venues are to receive by mid-September nearly 2,000 “new and modern slot machines”, as part of the agency’s modernisation programme, ahead of privatisation.

Mr Tengco further mentioned that as part of Pagcor’s privatisation plan, a gaming academy will be established.

The move, he said, aimed to help enhance the professionalism within the country’s gaming industry and meet a rising demand for skilled professionals.

“We aim to do this by forging partnerships with Asian gaming education providers to create a consortium that caters not only to the Philippine workforce but also to all who wish to build a career in gaming in other jurisdictions,” the Pagcor boss stated, as quoted by the official Philippine News Agency.

In other news this week, Mr Tengco said Pagcor is set to reduce further the GGR remittance rate for online and on-site betting platforms, starting from January next year.