“PCSO is about charity, not gambling”

Royina Garma, General Manager at the PCSO, said the Philippine body is not about gambling, but charity.

Philippines.- The Philippine gaming industry is one of the largest in all of Asia. However, some concerns rose around the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Despite questionings PCSO General Manager Royina Garma explained how gambling relates to the body.

“PCSO is about charity, not gambling,” she said.

“We continuously work with compassion and dedication in improving the lives of our countrymen,” she said. “We encourage you to give to PCSO, by supporting and patronizing our products.”

Online gaming in the Philippines

As they had already advanced, Philippine authorities want to slow down the iGaming segment. They won’t issue any more permits, in order to prevent the industry from an “overburden”.

As G2E Asia kicked off, PAGCOR chairwoman Andrea Domingo explained the decision. “We don’t want to overburden the industry by blatantly giving out licenses,” she said. “The President declared a ban on IRs and casinos in January 2018 and we have observed that. He lifted the ban in Clark last year and we have observed that too, but even the Clark region is saturated.”

“Even in Clark, we have stopped acceptance of any applications for new casinos,” she added.