Last week, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) completed the soft launch of its iGaming platform, operating out of Okada Manila in the Philippine capital’s Entertainment City casino zone. A full version of the online casino site is expected later this month.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut down or restricted operations at Manila’s casino resorts, the Philippine government made the decision to allow online casino operations known as Philippine Inland Gaming Operations (PIGOs); iGaming licenses were made available for City of Dreams Manila, Solaire Resort & Casino, Resorts World Manila and Okada Manila.
PIGO licenses were issued a year ago by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), the government-run regulator. Okada’s iGaming site was the second PIGO site to begin operations. Solaire was the first to launch earlier this month.
According to Casino.org, the iGaming sites can only accept players who have patronized the brick-and-mortar casinos in the past and have active player accounts. PIGOs can operate live dealer table games and interactive slot machines. Okada’s launch included six live-dealer baccarat games, two roulette tables and 80 electronic slots, with a plan to add eight more baccarat games and 60 additional slot titles. PAGCOR’s will collect 30 percent of the gross gaming revenue (GGR).
In related news, as President Rodrigo Duterte nears the end of his six-year term, gaming analyst Ben Lee of IGamix Management & Consulting told Asia Gaming Brief that gaming operators should also prepare for potential changed in the government’s attitude toward the industry. Voters will elect a new president next month, and PAGCOR leadership will change too.
“With elections pending, investors and operators have to stay, nimble as there is no way to tell which way the pendulum will swing,” Lee said. “We have no idea which way it will go as they have not laid out their positions and even if they had, there is no guarantee that they will stand by them.”
Regarding a new regime at PAGCOR, he added, “Basically, there’s a shakeout that may change the internal structure of PAGCOR and will change the way they regulate. There’s nothing to say it will maintain its current outlook based on history.”
When Duterte took power, he stated repeatedly that he hated gambling and quickly shut down the offshore online gambling industry. Since then, however, the administration has expanded gaming in the Philippines more than any other administration, mostly to reap new revenues.
Last summer, the president addressed his changing stance, saying, “If you say, ‘Duterte, I thought you hated gambling. Now you want a gambling house in Boracay? You’re encouraging the tourists.’ Forgive me for the contradiction. We don’t have money now. Where we can get money, I will get it.” The reference was to a planned resumption of casino operations on the holiday island of Boracay; Duterte imposed a ban on gaming on the island in 2018, but lifted the ban last August.
The frontrunner in the May 9 election is Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcus, son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who is polling with about 60 percent support of the public, reported AGB. His running mate is Duterte’s daughter, Sarah Duterte-Carpio. Among the other nine candidates also running are incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo and former boxer Manny Pacquiao as well as Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.
For the first time since March 2020, the Philippine government has ended all Covid-related lockdowns amid a decline in viral cases.
