Communications secretary Martin Andanar said the government is confident the regulator will find new sources of revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.- The gaming regulator PAGCOR has been left seeking new forms of revenue after the unexpected announcement of the immediate suspension of online cockfighting operations<\/a>\u00a0in the Philippines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Rodrigo Duterte<\/strong>\u00a0has ordered the suspension of e-sabong operations\u00a0following the recommendation of local government secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o. According to The Philippine News Agency, A\u00f1o submitted a report to Duterte, recommending the suspension o\u201cuntil a better set of framework and regulations are formulated, in such a way that it will not significantly harm any of the stakeholders and lead to the moral decay of society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The announcement puts in doubt PAGCOR’s revenue expectations as the regulator’s chairman Andrea Domingo had previously said PAGCOR could raise about Php7.2bn to Php8bn if e-sabong continued to operate until the end of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pagcor achieved a monthly turnover of PHP650m through e-Sabong. From April 2021 to December 2021, the government earned about PHP3.69bn and from January to March 15, 2022, approximately PHP1.37bn was collected from the operations of seven licensees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the government is confident in “the ability of PAGCOR to generate new revenues,” communications secretary Martin Andanar told local media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A bill to tax online betting on sabong events<\/a>\u00a0held in legal cockpits was approved in November 2020, and in May 2021,\u00a0PAGCOR issued the first licences<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n