WITH revenues from gaming operations in the country slowly stabilizing, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. remitted P98 million to the Philippine Sports Commission for the month of July, according to Pagcor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Domingo.
“The last check I signed for the PSC for the month of July was about P98 million now. Last year, it wasn’t really good (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). We gave them about P60 million on the average. It’s getting better,” Domingo saidyesterday during the “Pandesal” online forum hosted by columnist Wilson Flores.
Counting the P98 million remittance last month, she said Pagcorhas remitted almost P7.3 billion since 2016 to the government sports agency for its National Sports Development Fund, which is where the PSC gets the money to finance the needs of National Sports Associations, plus the allowances of athletes and coaches in the national pool.
Domingo said she also recently signed a check for P38.5 million for the bonuses and other incentives of the 19 athletes who saw action in the last Tokyo Olympic Games, led by weightlifting gold medalist Hidylin Diaz.
Diaz received P10 million from the PSC under Republic Act 10699, the Incentives Law, for her gold medal plus another P5 million for setting two Olympic records in ruling the women’s 55-kilogram last July 26 at the Tokyo International Forum.
Boxing silver medalists NesthyPetecio and Carlo Paalam were given P5 million apiece under the law while boxer Eumir Felix Marcial gotP2 million for winning a bronze.
Domingo said Pagcorgave the PSC direct assistance of P842 million for the renovation of facilities at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex — the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Rizal ballpark and Rizal track and football stadium, and the Philsports Arena in Pasig city.
Domingo expressed the hope that Pagcorrevenues would start recovering by next month as the country eases its restrictions on international travel and Filipinos attain herd immunity through the government’s vaccination drive against the deadly virus.
She added, however, that based on Pagcor’sprojections, it might take the later part of 2022 until they achieve the record revenues of P74 to P76 billion the agency was generating yearly before the pandemic struck.
Domingo said this explains why Pagcorwas able to remit as much as an average of P150 million monthly for the PSC’s NSDF until the first quarter of 2020.
With its income slashed from actual gaming operations due to the pandemic, Domingo said most of their revenues are now derived from POGOS (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations), online e-bingo and e-games, e-junket and e-sabong (cockfights).
“So you change the mode of play and situation using technology without sacrificing control (over gaming operations),” Domingo said, “and which is why we are still able to fulfill our commitment to the PSC.”
