Gold rings for 20-year staffers
There have been a shakeup of the executive tier in the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s Gaming License and Development Department. The sweep follows allegations that the state-run regulator miscalculated the government’s share of its earnings over seven years. That caused an underpayment of PHP21.186 billion, the Commission on Audit said in its latest report.
In the annual report, the commission said that from 2011 to 2017 PAGCOR computed the government’s 50 percent share in its income based on earning from gaming operations and not on “aggregate gross earnings” as required by law. That share is to be allocated for flood control, infrastructure improvements and social programs, reported the Philippine Star. The commission said the total underpayment amounted to nearly PHP21.19 billion (US$396 million).
Based on the same faulty formula, PAGCOR also underpaid the Philippine Sports Commission Act, which is supposed to get a 5 percent share of the regulator’s revenues. The auditor recommended that PAGCOR “seek clarification with higher authorities” such as the office of the president and the Department of Finance as well as Congress to define for good the meaning of the phrase “aggregate gross income from franchise.”
Attorney Angeline P. Papica-Entienza has been tapped as assistant vice president of PAGCOR and head of the GLDD, replacing Ramon Villaflor, reported Inside Asian Gaming. Rowena Alcaide has been appointed senior manager of the Casino Licensing and Regulatory Unit in place of attorney Dave Sevilla. Angelie Agustin is the new senior manager of the Responsible Gaming and Logistics Unit, assuming the role once held by Luis Dela Concepcion. And attorney Jeremy Luglug has been named acting senior manager of the Remote Gaming Unit, replacing Maria Flor.
PAGCOR was also found to have overpaid “certain long-serving staff” during 2017. The gaming regulator gave cash bonuses totaling almost PHP12.5 million to officials with 20 years of service, “plus an 18-carat gold ring as a memento for each staffer,” according to CDC Gaming Reports. The rings cost PHP13 million.
The Commission on Audit said the rewards were “in excess of the amount provided for” by the government, which called for PHP5,000 (US$94) per person after 20 years in a government position. PAGCOR’s own rulebook mentioned a cash payment of PHP10,000 per person for 20 years of service, plus one month of base pay and the gold ring.
“We recommended and management agreed, to seek clarification or approval from the Office of the President on the grant of benefits, particularly the loyalty awards to PAGCOR employees,” the commission’s report stated.
The audit and the personnel changes follow a suspension of new casino licenses in the country and the apparent shelving of one provisional license granted to Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group. In January, PAGCOR called a halt to the issuance of new licenses in the country, but at the time, the new edict was not to have applied to the Galaxy license. The company planned to build a US$500 million integrated resort on a 23-hectare (57-acre) site at Barangay Manoc-Manoc on Boracay.
But in April President Rodrigo Duterte closed the holiday island for an environmental cleanup, then declared that no casinos would be built there, ever. Duterte called the island “a cesspool,” referring to untreated wastewater allegedly dumped into the ocean by hotels and other businesses. He added that when the cleanup is complete, Boracay will be an agricultural site, not a casino destination.
Korean casino operator Landing International Development Corp. also had a lease agreement to develop and operate an integrated resort in Manila’s Entertainment City, but that plan was dropped due to the lack of a gaming license and a dispute over the land lease, IAG reported.
PAGCOR is responsible for licensing and regulating casinos in the Philippines and also runs its own properties across the country. Duterte has ordered the regulator to start divesting some of its casino properties in a phased selloff to eliminate conflicts of interest. Since last year, the regulator has also begun offering online licenses for offshore gaming operators, known as POGOS.
