At the height of the downpour and massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces Wednesday, volunteer teams from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) started bringing relief packs to affected communities.

Classes and government work were suspended on Wednesday and Thursday due to the widespread flooding, but PAGCOR volunteers went into action nevertheless.

“Even at the height of the flooding, and even before the President ordered government agencies to provide assistance to affected communities, PAGCOR employees already went to action to help those in need,” PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said.

The PAGCOR chief said that since July 24, the agency has delivered more than 21,000 food and non-food relief packs for thousands of affected families.

“After the heavy rains subsided and it was safe to do so, we started bringing immediate aid to flooded communities in Caloocan City on Wednesday, followed by relief operations in Valenzuela, Malabon and Malolos, Bulacan the next day,” he said.

Mr. Tengco added that PAGCOR was scheduled to distribute relief goods to the cities of Marikina and Navotas on Friday as well as to affected towns in Bulacan like Calumpit and Bulakan which were all submerged in floodwater.

“It has been second nature to PAGCOR to immediately respond to the needs of affected communities in times of disasters,” he said.

“We understand that while it is part of our mandate to contribute to nation-building, it is also our moral obligation to help ease the plight of Filipinos in times when they need help the most,” the PAGCOR chief added.

He said PAGCOR’s relief operations are ongoing, with more employees volunteering to help repack relief goods Saturday and Sunday in the agency’s warehouse in Imus, Cavite to support distribution efforts in the coming days in Bataan, Batangas and Cavite.

Lottery and integrated technology and services company AGTech Holdings Limited (AGTech) has announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has successfully won procurement tenders to supply lottery terminals to Sports Lottery Administration Centres in Shaanxi province, Zhejiang province and Jiangsu province of the People’s Republic of China.

AGTech already has previous success in the China market, having won a bid in 2018 for supplying its new dual, touchscreen lottery terminals to the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Shanghai and Hebei.

Even before this, AGTech introduced new instant win games, launched in partnership with Chinese logistics firm SF Holdings across Shenzen, Nanchang, Changsha and Nanjing.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has banned the establishment of any new Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), also known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs), with immediate effect. Existing POGO operators will have until the end of the year to wind down their operations.

The verdict, not entirely unexpected, was delivered during his State of the Nation Address in Manila on Monday following widespread pressure from a Senate investigation into illegal POGO-linked activities.

“Effective today, all POGOs are banned. I hereby instruct [gaming regulator] PAGCOR to wind down and cease the operations of POGOs by the end of the year,” Marcos said in his SONA.

The decision to shut down POGOs follows a series of recent raids on illegal POGO compounds in Pampanga and Tarlac amid allegations they had been engaging in human trafficking and scam activities.

A full ban, proposed by multiple senators, had also gained the support of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority.