Pagcor-PCSO merger opposed

PRESIDENT Duterte is pushing for the merger of state-owned gaming companies―casino operator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and  lotto operator Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), according to gaming officials.

Pagcor Chair Andrea Domingo, however,  said she was not cool with the plan of combining under one roof the games for the masses and games for high-rollers.

“We have been told (of the proposed Pagcor-PCSO merger), but it will be difficult to manage games for the ‘masa’ and games for the high-end. We will need good managers to run all of this. But if it will be government policy, I will not object to it,”  Domingo said during a budget hearing in Congress.

Aside from consolidating its operations with PCSO, Domingo said the Department of Finance was pushing for the privatization of 45 state casinos in the country.

Casino pricing and disposal

Domingo said her staff was already doing the legwork to come up with the pricing and disposal of the Pagcor casinos.

Domingo, however, said the privatization of casinos was complicated because each site had different leasing contracts.

Domingo said the Pagcor was veering away from small gaming shops, citing the nonrenewal of the licenses of Philweb Corp. and E-Bingo operations of Leisure Resorts World Corp.