Pagcor weighs privatization of all 41 casinos it operates

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) is considering selling all 41 casinos it operates to raise 80 billion pesos ($1.47 billion) in government revenue and to focus on its regulatory functions, the agency's chairman said on Tuesday, March 21, 2023¹. Chairman Alejandro Tengco made the statement at the ASEAN Gaming Summit¹.

Tengco said he hoped privatization could be implemented during his term, which runs until 2028 in line with the presidency¹. Pagcor is both a regulator and an operator of 41 casinos¹. The casinos are under long-term leases with hotels and commercial space landlords, and selling them in bundles would generate around 80 billion pesos for the government, Tengco told reporters¹.

This is not the first attempt at a sale. Pagcor first announced its intention to sell casinos in 2016 to beef up the government's budget, a plan shelved two years later¹. Last year, lawmakers and the finance minister pushed the new Pagcor administration to revive privatization plans¹.

Gross gaming revenues (GGR), the amount players wager minus winnings, in the regulator's casinos almost doubled to 15.9 billion pesos last year, according to government data¹. Tengco said total GGR, led by multi-billion dollar integrated casino-resorts, will likely hit the 256 billion pesos pre-pandemic level by 2024, versus 214 billion pesos last year¹. He said the return of Chinese gamblers and completion of new gaming properties will boost the sector this year and in 2024¹. The Philippine gaming industry has attracted foreign and domestic firms to set up casino-resorts, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the past decade, and gambling and betting activities employed roughly 27,000 workers in 2020, according to government data¹. The country's gambling scene attracts high rollers from countries including China, Japan and South Korea¹.

What it means for players

The casinos named in the proposal are the ones Pagcor itself runs, not the large integrated casino-resorts that drive most of the country's GGR¹. Under the plan those 41 venues would move to private owners, while Pagcor would keep its role as the body that licenses and regulates gambling in the Philippines¹. The regulator's licensing and regulatory role is the part it says it wants to concentrate on.

For anyone gambling in the Philippines, the practical effects are not yet known. The report does not say whether ownership changes would alter house rules, game offerings, comps, or the terms under which the casinos operate, and no timeline for individual venues has been reported¹. The casinos sit on long-term leases with hotels and commercial landlords, which the report says is a factor in how a sale would be structured¹. Nothing in the announcement changes the legal status of gambling in the country, and no new rules for players have been reported¹. Background on where gambling is permitted and who oversees it is set out in our Philippines gambling guide.

What happens next

Tengco said he hopes privatization can be carried out before his term ends in 2028¹. No buyer, sale schedule, or formal approval process has been reported¹. The report notes that a previous attempt to sell the casinos, announced in 2016, was shelved two years later¹.