Thu| 07.28.2022 | 6:20 PM

Offshore Gaming and Licensing Department Assistant Vice President Victor Padilla talks about the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators industry outlook during the last day of the ASEAN Gaming Summit on July 27, 2022.

Licensing and Regulatory Group General Manager Daniel Cecilio discusses the status and performance of land-based casinos on the first day the ASEAN Gaming Summit on July 26, 2022 at Shangri-La, the Fort in Taguig City.

The PAGCOR delegation during the ASEAN Gaming Summit at Shangri-La, the Fort in Taguig City.

The ASEAN Gaming Summit is a world class conference program that gathers the region’s leading operators, regulators and suppliers to educate and inspire the next generation of gaming. Held on July 25-27, 2022, the conference was the first major in person industry event in Asia since the start of the pandemic.

Two executives from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) became keynote speakers in the recently concluded ASEAN Gaming Summit held at Shangri-La the Fort, in Taguig City.

Licensing and Regulatory Group General Manager Daniel Cecilio discussed the status and performance of land-based casinos on the first day of the summit last July 26, 2022, while Offshore Gaming and Licensing Department Assistant Vice President Victor Padilla talked about the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry outlook on last day of the conference on July 27, 2022.

According to Cecilio, land-based casinos in the country play a major role in the industry, like in all other gaming jurisdictions.

“Ever since their establishment here in the Philippines, land-based casinos have significantly grown in number, evolving from its early stages many decades ago into the current modern set-up of full entertainment package. Along the way, the lean production way back has also steadily grown to become a multi-billion peso gaming business,” he said.

Currently, the Philippines has 51 land-based casinos, 38 of which are PAGCOR-operated under the Casino Filipino brand. Thirteen are operational licensed casinos in Entertainment City, Clark Special Economic Zone, Fiesta Casinos and Greenfield Zone.

Cecilio shared that the steady revenue growth from land-based casino operations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Brick and mortar casinos suffered the most due to limitations imposed by the government. However, after partial lifting of travel restrictions and relaxation of alert levels in the country, we finally saw light with an uptrend to end the year [2021] with P113 billion in overall gross gaming revenues, inclusive of the P96.5 billion for land-based casinos.”

In the first quarter of this year, land-based casinos in the country generated P32.7 billion GGR, a major development compared to the previous year. PAGCOR, said Cecilio, also foresees a figure of P105.84 billion in GGR of land-based casinos alone by year-end.

“Via the combined GGR production of the licensees and CF sites, Philippine land-based casinos are expected to reach a production high of at least P146 billion by conservative estimates after five years at the end of 2026,” Cecilio added.

Meanwhile, Padilla discussed the POGO, Philippine In-Shore Gaming Operations (PIGO) and E-sabong, and how regulation helped curb illegal online gambling in the country and enabled PAGCOR to generate more income for nation-building, particularly when the agency was challenged during the pandemic.

POGOs are licensed online gambling firms that cater to players outside the Philippines; PIGO is the conduct of gaming operations through a Remote Gaming Platform, while E-sabong refers to the online/remote betting on live cockfighting.

“PAGCOR’s regulation of online gaming curbed illegal operations in the Philippines. It also afforded the government an income stream used for various nation-building programs and socio-civic projects. The strict implementation of regulations likewise resulted in PAGCOR meeting its revenue targets to help finance the Universal Healthcare program, COVID-19 and disaster response activities,” Padilla cited.

He also laid down the challenges in regulating these gaming platforms such as the limitations on operational capacities of licensees due to the pandemic, border restrictions for POGOs that pose concerns on human resource management, and online gambling customers becoming more prone to gambling addiction, among others.

Padilla also explained that PAGCOR implemented stricter and more proactive regulatory measures. “To ensure lawful business transactions, licensees are required to comply with the anti-money laundering act (AMLA) and its casino implementing rules. POGO Tax Law was also enacted and concretized the tax regime for offshore gaming operations. Said tax law became vital in dispelling doubts as to the legality of the business, building confidence and ensuring the stability of stakeholders.”

The ASEAN Gaming Summit is a world class conference that gathers the region’s leading operators, regulators and suppliers to educate and inspire the next generation of gaming. The three-day conference was the first major industry event in Asia since the pandemic.

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