GGRAsia – Pagcor mulls pure regulator role via US$1.5bln casinos sale

Pagcor mulls pure regulator role via US$1.5bln casinos sale

Mar 21, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

The Philippines is looking to raise circa PHP80 billion (US$1.47 billion) from the sale of its network of small, state-owned casinos, said on Tuesday the head of the country’s regulator the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), citing a wish to split regulatory from operating functions.

Pagcor chairman and chief executive Alejandro Tengco (pictured) was speaking in Manila during a casino-industry trade event, the ASEAN Gaming Summit.

“We are seriously considering the privatisation of all Pagcor-operated casinos,” stated Mr Tengco. A suite of such casinos is run under the branding Casino Filipino: it includes more than 40 branches and so-called ‘satellite-casinos’, operating in leased venues from third parties.

“We are the only regulatory [body] in the world that doesn’t only regulate; we also operate casinos,” he was cited as saying by news outlet Nikkei Asia.

The casinos could be bundled when they are offered to bidders to unlock greater value, according to Mr Tengco, as quoted by Reuters.

Asia Gaming Brief, the organiser of the summit, cited the Pagcor chairman as saying were there to be a tender, it would be open to international bidders.

Aggregate gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Pagcor-operated sites reached PHP15.79 billion last year, with more than half from mass-market slot machines, at nearly PHP8.47 billion,

Mr Tengco was confirmed in his regulatory role in August, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was sworn into office on June 30.

The gaming chief said he hoped to implement privatisation during his term, which coincides with Mr Marcos’s presidential tenure until 2028.

The Philippines’ Finance Secretary, Benjamin Diokno, has previously said proceeds from privatisation of state-owned casinos could be used for the planned national development initiative known as the Maharlika Investment Fund.

The revisiting of the Casino Filipino privatisation idea – which has been mooted by previous Pagcor administrations – comes soon after the Pagcor reported that the casino GGR tally industry-wide for full-year 2022 was just above PHP184.00 billion, up 90.6 percent compared to only PHP96.55 billion in 2021.

During his keynote address at the ASEAN Gaming Summit, Mr Tengco also discussed some regulatory initiatives Pagcor was planning to implement in the Philippines. These included updates to regulatory manuals regarding respectively the licensing of junket operators and land-based casinos. Pagcor’s Technical Standards for Electronic Gaming Machines would be revised, he added, according to a press release from Pagcor.

Mr Tengco also said the regulator was looking at the creation of a regulatory framework for online poker operations, and to improving overall regulation for online gaming.