A call by a leading Philippine Senate member, for the country to mull a ban against online gambling aimed at domestic players, can’t yet be assessed in terms of how likely it is to happen.
That is according to Raffy Mendoza, an analyst at Maybank Securities Inc, in comments to GGRAsia in response to our enquiry on the topic.
Philippine Senate President Francis Escudero called in a March 1 statement, for a “cost-benefit analysis” of Philippine Inland Gaming Operator (PIGO) licences to determine if they were a “destructive force” within domestic society, and should be banned.
Maybank’s Mr Mendoza told GGRAsia: “It would be too early to tell whether a PIGO ban is likely given that we have a [mid-term] election year.”
Land-based casino operators in the Philippines can apply to offer online gaming to domestic customers. The country’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), typically refers to such operations as PIGO business.
As distinct from virtual online gaming formats, PIGO games need to be connected to physical gaming machines or gaming tables.
“PIGOs – eGames – have contributed to roughly 38 percent of Pagcor’s reported gross gaming revenues [GGR] in 2024,” Mr Mendoza noted to GGRAsia.
In 2024 the Philippine gaming sector generated PHP410.48-billion (US$7.13-billion) in GGR, with the land-based segment being the largest contributing segment, accounting for 49 percent of the total.
The country may achieve record GGR in 2025 – in the range of PHP450 billion to PHP480 billion, suggested Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco in comments to reporters at a briefing last week.
The GGR from eGames could “match” that from land-based casinos “in the next two to three years”, Mr Tengco said at the briefing.
Any ban on PIGO business, if realised, could hurt Philippine national government funds, reported media outlet BusinessWorld, citing analysts from Unicapital Securities Equity Research and China Bank Capital Corp.
In terms of Philippine fiscal revenue sources, Pagcor ranked “third-biggest” after the country’s Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, reported BusinessWorld, citing Unicapital Securities’ analyst Jeri Alfonso.
“Stringent” rules should be apply in terms of the oversight of PIGO business, instead of discontinuing the sector, said Raph Recto, the Philippines’ Finance Secretary, as cited on Wednesday by the Philippine Star news outlet. He added the national authorities benefitted from a strong flow of revenues from the industry.
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