PAGCOR CEO sums up six-year tenure

PAGCOR chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo takes stock of her six-year stint at the helm of the regulator and casino operator.

The Philippines.- PAGCOR has sent our a release offering a summary of CEO and chairman Andrea Domingo‘s tenure at the helm of the regulator, adding to the assumption that her stint will soon come to an end. Domingo highlighted that revenue for the entire six years of her incumbency reached PHP300bn (US$5.44bn).

The regulator noted that revenue from gaming operations was up 35 per cent year-on-year to PHP11.29bn (US$225.8m) for the first quarter of the current year, while net income was up 35.05 per cent to PHP624.7m (US$11.8m).

Domingo said: “Pagcor’s effectiveness in regulating gaming resulted in the proper collection of revenues. During our six years in office, we were able to record more than PHP300bn (US$5.44bn), of which PHP234bn went directly to the government and mandated beneficiaries while the remainder went to our social responsibility projects.”

PAGCOR’s senior management is usually changed when a new president enters office in the Philippines, so Domingo is expected to enter her stint in the coming weeks. The former head of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration was appointed to head PAGCOR in 2016 as part of an overhaul of public institutions announced by President Duterte shortly after taking office.

Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr will be sworn in tomorrow (Thursday June 30). Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, will serve as vice president, to be sworn in on June 19.

PAGCOR posts update on uncollected receivables from POGOs

PAGCOR has reported that of the PHP2.33bn (US$42.7m) in outstanding receivables from Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), PHP815.9m has been settled. The regulator said the amount was collected through PAGCOR’s fight against illegal online gambling and its focus on maximising collections, resulting in presumptive or estimated billing for suspiciously undeclared sites.

As for the uncollected PHP1.51bn, PAGCOR said this was due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2020, POGOs were ordered to cease activities due to countermeasures. The regulator noted that “most POGOs were no longer able to reopen… which consequently resulted in the accrual of uncollected bills.”