Bill would add casinos to AMLA
Newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took the oath of office June 30, and almost immediately vowed to end online gambling in the country.
At his first cabinet meeting, held hours after he became the country’s 16th president, Duterte declared, “Online gambling must stop. I don’t want the proliferation of gambling in the country.” He suggested that too many of his countrymen are choosing to gamble rather than work, and said it’s far too difficult for the government to effectively collect taxes from online gaming.
Duterte also pledged to funnel all earnings from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to fund health and education initiatives. “I will commit all earnings from PAGCOR, which runs to billions,” he said. He added that the privatization of PAGCOR is on the table, according to the Philippine Business Mirror. PAGCOR’s new chairwoman, Andrea Domingo, was quick to concur, saying, “For now, we will freeze the issuance of licenses for these types of games, and then review what the president said.” Domingo, former head of the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration, is a Duterte appointee.
CalvinAyre.com says the announcements have shaken the gaming industry, and caused stakeholders to wonder about the president’s definition of online gaming. To date, the only online gaming licenses issued by PAGCOR are for terminal-style eGames run by companies like PhilWeb and Leisure & Resorts World Corp. PhilWeb sought a three-day suspension on trading when shares fall 22 percent following Duterte’s announcement.
In keeping with the new president’s crime-busting style, Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, of Quezon City near Manila, has filed a bill with the House of Representatives that would add casinos to the list of organizations covered by that nation’s 2001 Anti-Money Laundering Act. According to a statement, the move is mean to “reinforce President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-corruption drive in all levels of government, including money laundering.”
Belmonte, former speaker of the House of Representatives, said the country “cannot afford” another scandal like the recent Bangladesh Bank cyber-heist, in which US$81 million “was stolen from that bank’s account, entered the Philippine banking system and made its way to local casinos and junket operators before being transferred overseas.” At a Senate hearing in March, it was revealed that US$63 million of that money allegedly was laundered through the Midas Hotel and Casino in Manila, a property majority-owned by Leisure and Resorts World Corp; and Solaire Resort and Casino in Entertainment City, Manila, a Bloomberry Resorts property.
The statement added that Belmonte’s bill would require casinos to report “covered” as well as suspicious transactions to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering Council. The bill reportedly includes more stringent customer identification requirements and record-keeping protocols, and bars casinos from allowing any customer to convert money from one form to another without being used for gambling. The bill, if passed, should bring the country into full compliance with international standards set up by the Financial Action Task Force, reported GGRAsia.
In February 2013, the news outlet reported, Senator Teofisto Guingona said casinos were exempted from AML laws “at the request of some lawmakers who feared it would deter investment in the casino sector, and of the country’s gaming regulator.”
Duterte is a quirky character who’s styled himself as a populist and a tough-talking anti-crime crusader, according to CNN. The BBC has characterized him as a “maverick”. According to Casino.org, he is “one of the most controversial politicians in modern history” and “anticlerical, even though over 80 percent of the Filipino population practices Catholicism.” The former mayor of Davao City has described himself as a “womanizer,” the website reported.
Among his most recent provocative statements is this one: “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself. These sons of whores are destroying our children.”
Gambling in the country spiked during Benigno Aquino III’s presidency. According to government data, there were 2,160 e-Bingo machines in the country when Aquino took office, and more than 12,000 when he left. Internet cafes also increased by 87 shops in the Philippines under Aquino.
