Franklin Drilon said privatizing the sector would generate USD 5.88 B to combat the pandemic

Philippines Senate Minority Leader calls for Govt to sell PAGCOR’s casinos

"There are ‘low-hanging fruits’ the government can immediately tap to provide the much-needed resources for our country to survive this pandemic," said Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
2020-04-17
Reading time 1:53 min
Pagcor Chairman and CEO argues that 100% of the profits from its casinos already go to the government compared to 19.5% from the IRs. After remitting USD 392 M to the government to help the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the total contribution to the Socio-Civic Funds Project of the Office of the President now stands at USD 284 M.

Philippines Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon believes that the coronavirus pandemic reinforces the argument that Philippine casino regulator and operator Pagcor should sell its 47 casinos.

He believes that privatizing the sector would generate PHP 300 billion (USD 5.88 billion) for the government which could be used to finance the fight against the pandemic.

Talking to CNN Philippines, Drilon said: “The government does not have to look far to raise additional revenues. There are ‘low-hanging fruits’ the government can immediately tap to provide the much-needed resources for our country to survive this pandemic. I hope our economic managers will move faster on this this time, because the effects of COVID-19 pandemic will go beyond 2020.”

However,  the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo argues that 100 percent of the profits from its casinos already go to the government compared to 19.5 percent of the profits from the integrated resorts.

After remitting PHP 20.5 billion (USD 392 M) to government coffers to help the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Pagcor released on Monday an additional PHP 6 billion (USD 117 M) to the Socio-Civic Funds Project (SCFP) of the Office of the President (OP). Pagcor’s total contribution to the OP now stands at PHP 14.5 billion (USD 284 M).

Domingo said the remittances to the President’s office were intended for various funding requirements relative to Proclamation 922 “Declaring a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the entire Philippines” and the subsequent declaration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon, which was extended until April 30. “The recent remittance to [the] OP is pursuant to Pagcor’s mandate to allocate its earnings to finance infrastructure and sociocivic projects,” Domingo said, as reported by The Manila Times.

“Despite experiencing losses due to the suspension of operations of our own and licensed gaming facilities for almost a month now, we are doing our best to provide much-needed help to the government during this time of crisis,” she added.

Apart from its remittances to the national government, Pagcor and its licensees have also donated food packs, personal protective equipment and other medical essentials to frontliners, hospitals and communities in the National Capital Region and some parts of Luzon.

The charitable arms of Entertainment City casino licensees likewise extended direct assistance such as Okada Manila Foundation’s PHP 25 million cash donation each to the Philippine Heart Center and Lung Center of the Philippines, and Bloomberry Cultural Foundation’s retrofitting of Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and Ninoy Aquino Stadium into temporary Covid hospitals.

Leave your comment
Subscribe to our newsletter
Enter your email to receive the latest news
By entering your email address, you agree to Yogonet's Condiciones de uso and Privacy Policies. You understand Yogonet may use your address to send updates and marketing emails. Use the Unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
Unsubscribe
EVENTS CALENDAR