Bill includes name change
A new bill before lawmakers in the Philippines would make the country’s state-run gaming regulator a regulator only. At present, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. is not only the regulator of gaming operations but also a licensor and owner-operator of dozens of casinos across the country.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has submitted House Bill 6514, which would make PAGCOR a “purely regulatory” agency and turn over its licensing powers to Congress, according to the Philippine Inquirer. Alvarez called the proposed legislation a “priority.”
“An entity that has this power runs the risk of dealing itself a favorable hand while undercutting others,” he said.
If the legislation is passed, PAGCOR would be renamed the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Authority, or PAGA. It would assume the regulatory functions handled currently by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the Games and Amusement Board, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and other special economic zones, reported the Asia Gaming Brief.
In addition, under the new bill all gaming operators would have to obtain a legislative franchise from Congress. The bill would give existing licensees one year to secure a franchise or risk seeing their licenses become invalid. Franchisees would be subject to a 5 percent franchise tax on aggregate gross earnings, reported AGB.
A key part of the overhaul would be the establishment of a special body to oversee privatization of PAGCOR’s 46 casinos, reported the Philippine Star. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told the newspaper, “We have a Privatization Management Office, but PAGCOR is a special case. It’s the casino licenses we are privatizing. It’s more technical. Quite frankly, we admit it’s more technical than what the PMO can handle.”
Dominguez hopes to start the privatization next year, selling off 17 casinos in the first round. PAGCOR’s brand, which goes by the name Casino Filipino, includes eight full-fledged gaming halls and 34 satellite locations.
GGRAsia reports that PAGCOR is one of the government’s largest revenue collecting agencies along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. In October, it reported income from gaming of PHP42.38 billion (US$843.7 million) in the nine months to September 30—up 11.1 percent from a year earlier.
According to CalvinAyre.com, the change should meet with approval from analysts and investors, showing the country “takes its gambling regulations seriously.”
“The country’s light-touch regulatory regime has kept foreign investors waiting on the sidelines,” the news outlet reported. “They also see a conflict of interest in PAGCOR acting as both a casino operator and an industry regulator.”
The proposed new bill and overseeing council would require signoff from President Rodrigo Duterte.
