Pagcor will sell its casinos

The Philippine government it to sell casinos owned and operated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR.

The Philippines.- The Philippine government will privatise casinos operated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation PAGCOR as it believes the regulator should stick to regulatory tasks.

“Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez has told us to privatize Pagcor-owned casinos,” said Andrea Domingo PAGCOR chair, at the Philippines’ House of Representatives. “We are now preparing the template for the planned privatisation so we could maximise the benefits for the government.”

“We had a discussion, and I suggested that PAGCOR should limit itself to the regulatory functions and should privatise their casino operations because, quite frankly, it’s very difficult for them to compete with other current casinos,” said Carlos Dominguez III Finance Secretary. “How long will they keep the P23-billion (revenues) with the new competition?”

Whilst the measure to privatise state-run casinos will result in a drop in government revenue, at least PAGCOR could earn a large amount of money through the one-time sale of its gambling facilities. Furthermore, Domingo said PAGCOR will try to recover through other gaming related activities, like offshore e-games, which would be limited to foreigners.