Asia
PAGCOR HIKES NATION-BUILDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHP56-B IN 2024
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PAGCOR-COMMUNITY-WELLNESS-CENTER.jpg)
State gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has allotted Php56.2 billion for nation-building initiatives in 2024, higher by Php8 billion compared with the current year as the agency expects to surpass pre-pandemic earning levels.
The 2024 amount includes Php12.1 billion for PAGCOR’s socio-civic projects that includes the construction of school buildings, e-learning centers and community wellness centers as well as its mandatory dividends to the national government.
“We are pleased to say that PAGCOR shall again contribute to nation-building in a major way next year with the gaming industry’s completely recovery and return to growth that was halted by the pandemic,” said PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco.
Mr. Tengco made the remarks after the PAGCOR board approved the agency’s 2024 revenue projections during its annual planning conference in Baguio City where the agency said it expects net operating income to hit Php61.5 billion in the coming year.
Should it realize its projections, the biggest slice of PAGCOR’s contributions for 2024 is the 50% government share from its operating income estimated at Php37.5 billion followed by the socio-civic component at Php12.12 billion.
Another major contribution to the national coffers is the 5% franchise tax amounting to Php3.95 billion and the share of the Philippine Sports Commission at Php1.87 billion. Cities that host casinos will get Php451 million while sports incentives and benefits will receive Php100 million.
Mr. Tengco said PAGCOR will launch new flagship socio-civic projects next January that will prioritize poor and remote communities in the Visayas and Mindanao where new school buildings, e-learning centers, community wellness centers and socio-civic centers will be built.
“Let us be inspired that we are truly part of nation-building,” Mr. Tengco told the planning conference attendees. “As government workers, we are duty-bound to serve our country but as Filipinos, we are foremost called to help lay the foundations of a better nation.”
Asia
PAGCOR BRAVES FLOODS TO HELP DISASTER-HIT COMMUNITIES
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PAGCOR-BRAVES-FLOODS-TO-HELP-DISASTER-HIT-COMMUNITIES_20240726_120712_0000.png)
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.
Asia
AGTech Wins Lottery Terminal Supply Tenders for Shaanxi, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/4-9.jpg)
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.
Asia
Philippine President Marcos Announces Ban on POGOs
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2-8.jpg)
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.
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