Pagcor is in debt with the State

The Philippine gaming authority seemingly owes the government US$393 million.

Philippines.- An audit ordered by the Philippine government revealed that the national authority on the legal gaming market, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), owes the State US$393 million. The investigation was held by the Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) over recent months.

The government of the Philippines receives 50 per cent of the state gaming firm’s “aggregate gross earnings” in order to invest in infrastructure and socio-civic projects. The transactions are controlled by Pagcor, which is in charge of managing financial transactions with legal iGaming and casino operators.

Under that law, the COA argued that Pagcor is in debt with the government as they calculated the transaction based on its gaming operation earnings and not on its entire income, leading to the US$393 million debt. Furthermore, the audit stated that the Philippine Sports Commission owes the government a total of PHP1.631 billion ($30.5 million) as a result of the wrong interpretation of gross income.

According to The Philippine Star, the COA said: “The COA Audit Team also continues to hold its stance that the 50 per cent government share should be computed based on the entire income of PAGCOR and not only on income from gaming operations.”.