Philippines regulator mulls selling all 41 casinos

The Philippines' gaming regulator is considering selling all 41 casinos it operates to raise 80 billion pesos, or $1.47 billion in government revenue, in order to focus on its regulatory functions, the agency's chief said on Tuesday.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp Pagcor is launching a new gaming hub as the country's freewheeling gaming sector recovers from the pandemic, with the return of Chinese high rollers and the opening of new gambling hubs.

Pagcor Chairman Alejandro Tengco told the ASEAN Gaming Summit that they were seriously considering the privatization of all Pagcor-owned casinos. I hope that we will be able to implement privatisation during my term. Tengco's term runs until 2028, in line with the presidency.

Pagcor, a regulator but also operator of 41 casinos, announced in 2016 that it was going to sell casinos to beef up the government's budget, a plan shelved two years later.

Last year, lawmakers and finance minister pushed the new Pagcor administration to revive privatisation plans.

Tengco told reporters that selling the casinos in bundles would generate around 80 billion pes for the government, which is under long-term lease with hotels and commercial space landlords.

The amount of money players wager minus winnings in the regulator's casinos almost doubled to 15.9 billion pes last year, according to government data.

The multi-billion dollar integrated casino resorts will likely hit the 256 billion pes pre-pandemic level by 2024, compared to 214 billion pes last year, according to Tengco.

The return of Chinese gamblers and completion of new gaming properties will boost the gaming sector this year and in 2024, according to Tengco.

The Philippine gaming industry has attracted foreign and domestic firms to set up sprawling casino resorts, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the past decade. According to the data, gambling and betting activities employed about 27,000 workers in 2020.

The Southeast Asian nation's gambling scene, including a smaller version of the Las Vegas gaming strip, attracts high rollers from countries like China, Japan and South Korea.