MANILA: Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chairman Andrea Domingo has painted a rosy picture of the country’s gambling industry, saying that the introduction of its new licenses for online gambling will propel the state regulator’s revenue to PHP65 billion (US$1.3 billion) in 2017.
In her keynote speech before the gambling executives attending the inaugural ASEAN Gaming Brief Summit, Domingo boasted that the state-run gaming firm achieved its highest income in the agency’s history last year when it posted a P55.06 billion (US$1.1 billion) gross income.
She attributed the 16.62 percent increase of PAGCOR’s revenue to the improving market, as well as newly implemented in-house efficiency has made it possible for the state regulator to achieve its highest income in history last year.
“Adding to this advantages, are the fact we have introduced many innovations. For example, instead of random sampling of our managerial and enforcement activities, we have strengthened this. We now have 24-hr, seven days a week presence… this yielded us P8 billion more in 2015,” Domingo pointed out.
For 2017, Domingo said they are setting an ambitious revenue target of between PHP62 billion and PHP65 billion (US$1.24 billion to US$1.3 billion). This, according to Domingo, is attainable as PAGCOR started the ball rolling for online gambling to shore up its revenue stream.
She said that local and international gambling operators have lined up in order to avail the state regulator’s Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) license.
PAGCOR will also bank on the continuing growth of the four major casino resorts in the country, according to Domingo, Citing a study conducted by Research and Market, Domingo noted that the casino gaming market in the Philippines is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.93 percent from 2016 to 2020.
