Philippine casinos will remain closed at least until June 30 due to ongoing concerns about coronavirus transmission and an increasingly burdened health care system, said President Rodrigo Duterte.
In an announcement last week, Duterte extended the shutdown for two weeks based on recommendations by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, reported Inside Asian Gaming.
The latest two-week extension came just a week after Andrea Domingo, the chairwoman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), said in a keynote speech at ICE Asia that she wanted casinos reopened “in June, or at the very latest in July.”
Domingo cited a need to “maintain the employment of 132,000 direct hires of the gaming industry” and to generate tax revenue to fight Covid-19. Manila’s casinos have been closed since March 15.
