OVER P73 billion in gross earnings, more than P35 billion in contributions to nation-building, a dozen record-breaking monthly revenues, a cumulative income growth of about 43% month-on-month, and a sound fiscal management that allowed bigger funding for major Corporate Social Responsibility programs.

That – in a nutshell – sums up the first two years of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) under the Aquino administration.

“Our performance during the last 24 months of the Aquino administration is a testament to the fact that our resolve to institute and implement operational reforms is working so well. We are able to break records and create laudable milestones,” said PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr.

The reforms embraced by the new PAGCOR management have led to an improved gaming experience at Casino Filipino, a much better revenue performance and a far better liquidity and profitability ratio for the agency.

Naguiat cited that this is the first time in PAGCOR’s history that its revenues have grown by leaps and bounds year-on-year. “In 2011, we generated a hefty increase of P5.19 billion in our total income compared to 2010 (P36.65 billion versus P31.46 billion). During the first semester of 2012 alone, our gross revenue already exceeded the amount we earned for the same period last year by P4 billion (P21.32 billion versus P17.22 billion),” he added.

This P9 billion increase in total revenues was attained by the present management in just 18 months, a feat which the previous PAGCOR managements were only able to do in seven to 10 years.

“We ended the two-year period with another record-breaking month in June. We earned a total income of P3.88 billion in June 2012. This is our newest revenue record for a single month since July 2010, the 12th time under our administration,” said Naguiat.

According to Naguiat, PAGCOR was already experiencing a downward trend in its winnings before his management stepped in. “In fact, the corporation’s 2008 winnings of P23.28 billion went down to P23.21 billion in 2009. During the first half of 2010, PAGCOR’s winnings were down by P809 million compared to the same period of 2009. When we took over PAGCOR in July 2010, we immediately instituted reforms to arrest the income decline.”

Naguiat also recalled that his management inherited bank loans made by the previous PAGCOR administration. “We immediately addressed that concern. Through prudent management of our resources, we were able to pre-pay PAGCOR’s bank loans amounting to over P1.67 billion as early as May 31, 2011, way ahead of their loan maturity scheduled in 2014. This saved us a total of P92.95 million in loan interests,” he stated.

Apart from the advance loan settlement, the current PAGCOR management was also able to pay about P857 million to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on December 2011. This was for tax assessments for fringe benefits taxes from 2004 to 2010 and Corporate Income Taxes for the period November 1, 2005 to December 31, 2010. “Last March 2012, we also paid over P1 billion for the fringe benefits tax and Corporate Income Tax for 2011,” Naguiat added.

“Under our watch, PAGCOR also released in February 2012 – for the first time ever – cash dividends amounting to P1 billion to the National Government. This is in compliance with RA 7656, a law that requires government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) like PAGCOR to declare dividends to the National Government,” the PAGCOR Chief shared.

Naguiat said it is also worth mentioning that under his term PAGCOR was able to reinforce PAGCOR’s role as a socially responsible corporation through relevant projects. “Our biggest CSR in the last 26 years is the billion-peso funded ‘Matuwid na Daan sa Silid-Aralan’ project. This P1 billion funding allocation for the construction of 1,000 classrooms nationwide was basically sourced from our savings.”

According to Naguiat, PAGCOR hopes to sustain its winning streak for the remaining months of the year given the prevailing optimism in the gaming industry not only in the Philippines but also in neighboring gaming jurisdictions like Macau and Singapore.

“Some sectors were saying that our gaming operations might be affected by the issue on the Philippines-China relationship because we have Chinese players and high-rollers. We are happy that we are able to tap into other premium Asian markets and our operations were not affected at all by this issue,” he said.

Naguiat expressed confidence that PAGCOR will breach the P40 billion mark in terms of gross revenues by the end of the year. “We have set really high standards for ourselves. That is the only way to go forward. We also keep reminding ourselves that we are here to help our government raise the much-needed funds to sustain its nation-building programs. Nandito ang PAGCOR para tumulong,” he concluded.

Go back