The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the gaming regulatory agency of the Philippines, revealed that it will lessen the fees imposed on iGaming providers to 35% in the 3rd month of this ongoing year, according to Alejandro H. Tengco, the CEO and President of the said regulator. Additionally, he verified this information during an interview at ICE London.
Necessary changes have been made:
Commenting on the fees reduction, throughout the aforementioned interview, Tengco said according to the Asia Gaming Brief: “In terms of online gaming regulations and structure, we did look into the existing structure and regulations and made necessary changes. The most important of which is bringing down the license fees being paid to PAGCOR from a high of 50 percent to today’s 42.5 percent. Come March we will bring it down further to 35 percent. We want to encourage more investors and applications for new licensees. I believe we will be able to encourage new players in the market.”
Beside the aforementioned fee reduction, at the moment, PAGCOR is also advocating for a reduction in tax on documentary stamps and lower taxes on winnings. In this regard, Tengco said that since he was first named as the chairman of PAGCOR two years ago, back in 2022 to mid-2023, the said regulator has tried to refine and go over each of the existing regulations and structures in order to “make them more” in tune with times. On that note, Tengco said: “We are regulating quite a number of integrated resorts in Manila. We did some changes and made some adjustments in the previous structure because we want to encourage not only the existing IR and licensees but new players to come in.”
Relatedly, he also commented that the Philippines, as the sole Southeast Asian region that essentially regulates online gaming licenses and land-based casinos, must utilize this upper hand to lure extra investment to its iGaming industry.
During the panel discussion prior to the interview, Tengco verified that the operator “would privatize“ during the Q4 of 2025.
Furthermore, the said regulator unveiled an overall revenue of PHP73.11bln, which is approximately $1.3bln, from its gaming properties in the previous year, representing a strong annual increase of 32.8%.
PAGCOR Cuts Its Revenue Share to Prevent Illegal Gaming:
In other news, it was recently revealed that PAGCOR decided to decrease its revenue share to 30-32% from 50%, as it used to be, in order to prevent the illegal gaming and create competitive market. Commenting on that, Tengco said that PAGCOR will reduce its revenue share.