Casino sell-off to be ready in months, Philippines says

A plan by Pagcor to sell off some state-owned casinos should be completed in “a few months”.

Philippines.- “I think the plan will be completed within the next few months,” Dominguez was quoted by the Manila Bulleting newspaper as saying.

“Basically, the goal is to separate the operating function of Pagcor from its regulatory function.”

The Philippine Department of Finance revealed August 2016 plans to strip Pagcor of the right to operate casinos.

In September last year, Secretary Dominguez said the government was to sell 17 Pagcor-operated casinos in a first round of disposals which he expected would commence in 2018.

Pagcor operates a suite of state-run casinos and oversees a number of private-sector ones. Its own brand of casinos is called “Casino Filipino”. According to their website, the brand currently operates properties in eight locations across the country, and has a further 34 “satellite” sites across the Philippines.