BINGO IN THE PHILIPPINES
The business of bingo
Bingo’s steady following in the country prompted the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (CASINO FILIPINO), the government agency tasked to oversee games of chance, to bring the game to its casinos.
CASINO FILIPINO organizes Bingo Fiestas at big venues such as the World Trade Center and have prizes that include brand new cars and a cash jackpot worth P2 million. An innovation to the game is the Instant Charity Bingo, which is a scratch card bingo game that has a jackpot of P1 million.
Proceeds of the games support charitable institutions such as halfway homes for streetchildren and abused women, centers for the elderly and the disabled and other humanitarian groups.
In the last few years, the popularity of the bingo game gave private operators the idea to set up bingocenters in the shopping malls and other commercial areas.
To protect the bingo players from unscrupulous operators, CASINO FILIPINO started regulating commercial bingo games by issuing grants of authority to the private operators.
With the advent of video games, PCs, Internet and other advancements in gaming technology it seems bingo is up against tight competition. But if you ask bingo fanatics, bingo is— without doubt — here to stay.
(From Ugnayan newsletter)