The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), under its new leadership, should address its conflicting role of having commercial and regulatory functions, according to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
“Pagcor’s new leadership will have to make known their plans moving forward,” Diokno told reporters over the weekend when asked if the previous administration’s plan to privatize state-run casinos will finally push through.
“They should resolve the seemingly conflicting roles as an operator and regulator,” he added.
Diokno said in the short- to medium-term, the disposal of Pagcor’s own gaming operations will not result in revenue loss.
“In the short- and medium-term, there will be no revenue loss because of privatization proceeds,” Diokno said. “The new leadership should consider the worthiness of their move appropriate to their role.”
Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sworn into office the new members of Pagcor’s board of directors.
The state-run gaming firm will have Alejandro Tengco as its new chairman and chief executive officer, while appointed as president and chief operating officer is Juanito Sañosa Jr.
Comprising the new members of the board of directors are Gilbert Cesar Remulla, Francis Democrito Concordia and Jose Maria Ortega.
During the early part of the previous administration, the government was preparing to streamline the process in the privatization of state-run casinos.
The government was seeking to privatize these assets to allow Pagcor to focus on its regulatory functions.
In previous reports in 2017, about 17 casinos that are purely operated by Pagcor were supposed to be the first ones to be privatized.
In 2020, the Department of Finance was also eyeing to privatize the gaming operations of Pagcor and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to generate additional revenues to help repay the debts incurred on the COVID-19 response. The said plans however did not materialize.