PAGCOR cancels Sun Valley Clark Hub accreditation

PAGCOR has cancelled Sun Valley Clark Hub’s provisional accreditation as an offshore gaming operator citing concerns over unlawful activities.

The Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has announced the cancellation of Sun Valley Clark Hub’s provisional accreditation as an offshore gaming hub. The decision follows controversy surrounding CGC Technologies, an offshore gaming service provider based in Pampanga, whose accreditation was also revoked by PAGCOR. 

PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the Sun Valley Clark Hub in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga is “no longer suitable to maintain its provisional accreditation, nor be issued a full accreditation as an offshore gaming hub due to its failure to ensure a lawful and orderly conduct of offshore gaming by its occupants in its registered sites.”

This action comes after an inter-agency search and rescue operation that took place on May 4 prompted by allegations of criminal activities, including cryptocurrency investment scams, serious illegal detention, and human trafficking at CGC. The operator occupied six buildings at the offshore gaming hub. However, only two of these had received accreditation from PAGCOR.

An online gaming hub serves as a complex that houses the operations, administrative services, and support facilities of PAGCOR-licenced offshore gaming operators and service providers. They encompass various amenities, including office and residential spaces, food establishments, grocery stores, health and wellness facilities, and recreational amenities.

Tengco said PAGCOR remained committed to upholding responsible regulated gaming while deterring any involvement in criminal activities that infringe upon the rights of individuals, both Filipinos and foreigners.

He said: “PAGCOR would like to remind foreign nationals who are being offered attractive employment opportunities in the Philippines to check the credibility of the companies that they are applying in. By going the extra mile, they can protect themselves from possible scams and human trafficking activities.”

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian has called for a senate inquiry into the potential involvement of the online gaming industry in human trafficking.