PAGCOR could lose part of its authority

A group from the Philippines are lobbying to take away PAGCOR’s authority on iGaming licenses.

Philippines.- The Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines (ATM), an advocacy non-governmental organisation, introduced to the national Supreme Court a petition to limit Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) authority on the iGaming selecting and controlling process.

The group presented yesterday its attempt to prohibit the Philippine gaming regulator to grant licenses for the online casino sector by urging the Supreme Court to eliminate 35 current licenses for Philippine Online Gaming Operations (POGO).

“PAGCOR’s continued acceptance, processing and issuance of POGO (Philippine Online Gaming Operators) licenses, as declared by PAGCOR Chair Andrea Domingo is violative of the provisions under EO 13, which specifically defined and clarified the individual authorities granted under the laws by which it was created to each government agency,” expressed ATM.

The EO regulation controls illegal gaming operations through a joint work between the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology. According to the petition, the EO also prohibits foreign players to participate in the online games.

The proposal rises after Philippine Senator Richard Gordon introduced the topic of the creation of a new regulatory authority for online gambling last week.