Pagcor won’t fund Angeles casino makeover – CEO

This photo provided by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) shows the Casino Filipino Angeles in Pampanga province. Pagcor distributed the photo to media members on February 15, 2024.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on Thursday belied reports that it will spend half a billion pesos to refurbish its Casino Filipino branch in Angeles City, Pampanga, and then sell it to a private bidder.

Alejandro Tengco, the Pagcor chairman and CEO, said the state gambling firm would indeed renovate the Casino Filipino Angeles branch, but the lessor would fully shoulder the cost.

“Pagcor will not spend a single centavo on the renovation,” he said in a statement released by the state gambling firm.

According to Tengco, the firm is only a lessee and does not own the building where Casino Filipino Angeles is located, but it had already made arrangements with the building owner to shoulder the renovation costs.

This photo provided by Pagcor shows the proposed exterior perspective for the renovation of Casino Filipino Angeles in Pampanga province. Pagcor distributed the photo to media members on February 15, 2024.

Based on a document sent to media members, the renovation project is named under the ownership of Century Resort Hotel Corp.

“This is the same arrangement we are pursuing with our Casino Filipino branch in Bacolod as part of our overall efforts to make our casinos more attractive to customers, which should benefit all of us at Pagcor, as well as the government,” Tengco continued.

His statement stemmed from a string of social media posts by alleged employees identified as a certain Gian Samson, who claimed that Pagcor would spend half a billion pesos to spruce up the Casino Filipino Angeles branch.

Samson said this will make the branch more attractive to prospective buyers once it is privatized.

“As they said, it’s like a car. It must be improved before selling,”  Samson mentioned in Filipino on social media, referring to the casino branch in Angeles.

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‘Not disbanding Pagcor’

Pagcor further denied Samson’s claim that 10,000 Pagcor employees would lose their jobs due to the planned privatization. It said the number was misleading as it is equivalent to their total workforce.

“We are not disbanding Pagcor; we are only shedding off our casino operations, but many workers will remain in regulatory, enforcement, monitoring, and electronic gaming licensing units, to name a few,” Tengco pointed out.

Pagcor previously expressed its intent to divest its assets by 2025, which means it will let go of its gaming operator role as it aims to become a pure regulator.

In the same statement, Tengco assured Pagcor employees of “safety nets” for staff affected by its planned privatization.

In January, Pagcor laid off some 665 workers in its Casino Filipino New Coast branch in Malate, Manila.

“I thus appeal to our employees not to swallow all the lies being peddled by some disgruntled people. We are here to look after your welfare, but you need to allow us to do our job,” Tengco said.