Helping build sustainable communities
Sat | 12.1. 2018 | 9:00 AM
Jimmy Bondoc (right), PAGCOR’s VP for Corporate Social Responsibility Group, visits the water purification system in a school in Pasay City. The PAGCOR-funded project has also been established in the city’s other schools – benefitting thousands of students.
In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, which is surrounded by bodies of water, having no access to potable water is unthinkable. Yet, over nine million Filipinos rely on unsafe water sources, cites water.org, an international organization that advocates access to safe water.
To address the issue, local government units all over the country, in cooperation with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) have been putting up sustainable and safe water sources in their communities. Pasay City, for example, one of country’s densely populated cities, has already established a water filtering system in public schools.
The water purification project, which started in 2013, now benefits 25 public schools. The program, according to city officials would not have been possible if not for the funding from PAGCOR.
The financial support is part of PAGCOR’s mandatory contribution to the socio-civic projects of cities where Casino Filipino branches are located.
From 1998 to the second half of 2018, PAGCOR’s collective remittance to its host cities nationwide has reached P11.24 billion. This amount has been used for various projects including infrastructure, basic health services, peace and order, livelihood, emergency assistance to calamity victims, education programs, anti-drug abuse campaigns, among others.
The cities of Manila, Pasay, Angeles, Tagaytay, Bacolod, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Davao, Olongapo, as well as the provinces of Cavite, Negros Occidental, and Cebu receive income share from PAGCOR monthly.
PAGCOR is able to produce revenues that help boost community development projects by regulating gaming and preventing the proliferation of illegal gambling in the Philippines.
In addition to the agency’s Host Cities Share, PAGCOR also remits funds to the Philippine Sports Commission, Sports Benefits and Incentives Act, Dangerous Drug Board, Early Childhood Care and Development Council, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the National Treasury.
PAGtulong sa komunidad… PAGCOR.