Alejandro Tengco: only 17 offshore gaming operators remain in the Philippines
PAGCOR’s chairman and CEO said licensed offshore gaming operators will all have wound down by year-end.
The Philippines.- Alejandro H. Tengco, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) has said that licensed offshore gaming operators are winding down ahead of a ban that will come into force at the end of the year. He said only 17 remain active, 16 of which have regular licences from PAGCOR.
The licensees still active are 12 Stars International Gaming Solutions, BestCommerce, Cronyx, Dynamic Studio Technology, Dynamic System International Limited, Frontier Point Management Solutions, Gamma Interactive, Intelligent Optical Solution, KNW Technology, Mpotech Digital System, Neo, New Oriental Club88, Phoenixfield, Sohu Expert Int’l Management Solutions, Victory 88 Group, and Wanfang Technology Management. Meanwhile, Gao Shou Technology Management has a provincial licence.
Tengco confirmed that from January 1 2025, all will be considered illegal and without a licence to operate. “You can expect that there will be no more licensed POGOs operating by the end of this year,” he told the Manila Times.
The Bureau of Immigation (BI) has reported that approximately 20,000 foreign offshore gaming workers are expected to leave the country by December 31. As of November 7, 21,757 foreign nationals linked to offshore gaming operators had voluntarily changed their work visas to temporary visitor visas and 10,821 had already left the country.
