Government could sell Pagcor casinos

The DOF of the Philippines remains confident that the government can continue to earn revenues from the casinos.

Philippines.- The government of the Philippines is still trying to push for the selling of state-owned casinos in order to finish the corporation’s commercial functions. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that the government would get additional tax revenues.

Whilst Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp) would not be in charge of the local casinos, the entity would collect higher license fees from future owners of the casinos. “The revenue stream will still come from the government because they have to pay taxes. We’re not saying that once you are privatised, you are not supposed to pay taxes anymore. Casinos pay a specific rate of tax line, they [also] pay for the right to have a casino, then they have to pay for a certain percentage of their gross etc. So, the government will still earn the money,” he said according to Manila Bulletin.

Dominguez is pretty certain that Pagcor should give away its gambling functions and stick to regulating the market. “Pagcor is a regulatory body, this is where you start getting confused, between are you a regulatory body or are you a revenue generating organisation?” said the official, and added that as a revenue generating agency, Pagcor isn’t an entity by itself, as it’s part of the government. “Pagcor is just a revenue generating organisation, but we think the more important is the regulatory function.”

The state-run corporation recorded a net income of 1.3 billion Philippine pesos (US$26 million) in the first quarter of the year (26.75 percent higher than in 2016) and gross income from gaming operations of P14 billion (US$280.5 million). Said numbers make it one of the state’s biggest money-making companies as it paid P7.37 billion (US$147.6 million) in gaming taxes and contributions to the government during the three month period.