Philippines Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has doubled down on his call for gaming regulator PAGCOR to privatize its self-operated casinos, claiming the process should be rapid and does not require specific legislation to mandate.
While PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco has already outlined his intention to sell during his current term – even detailing a raft of investments currently being made to enhance the value of PAGCOR’s casinos – Diokno said during a briefing on Friday, “The best practice is to separate … [PAGCOR] cannot be both an operator (and regulator). That is conflicting.”
According to BusinessWorld, he added that Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr “knows it’s not smart to have the same operator and (regulator). That’s a conflict of interest.”
Diokno also claimed that options to expedite such a process include turning PAGCOR casino operations over to his Department of Finance or via the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG).
“PAGCOR is a corporation. What GCG usually does is to propose an executive order,” he said.
This is not the first time Diokno has pushed for privatization of PAGCOR’s casinos.
In December, he told local media, “PAGCOR is a regulator but at the same time it operates gambling companies. That’s wrong. If you’re a regulator, stick to that. You cannot run gambling casinos.
“It’s like saying that you have a central bank and yet you’re also running a bank. That cannot work. We can privatize its operations so PAGCOR can stick to being a regulator.”
Speaking at G2E Asia in Macau earlier this month, PAGCOR’s Tengco revealed the agency was undertaking three key initiatives to increase the value of its casinos ahead of a sale, including the modernization of its IT and cybersecurity infrastructure, upgrading of more than 3,000 electronic gaming machines (EGMs) and introduction of new technical standards for EGMS.
PAGCOR has previously stated it desire to earn almost US$1.5 billion from the sale of its 41 casinos, which include nine under the Casino Filipino brand and 32 operating as satellites.
