47 Andrea Domingo
CHAIRMAN AND CEO
Pagcor
POWER SCORE: 572
POSITION LAST YEAR: 47
CLAIMS TO FAME
Overhauling the nation’s offshore licensing
Has overseen huge revenue growth among PAGCOR-operated casinos
Twelve months ago we wrote that PAGCOR’s Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo had clearly planted her flag in the ground as an unwavering supporter of the man that appointed her in May 2016 – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Yet that support has been sorely tested in 2018 with Duterte’s unexpected declarations against the launch of any new casino operations coming on at least two occasions just weeks after PAGCOR had given major IR initiatives the green light. Nevertheless, while Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment Group and Hong Kong-listed Landing International have been swatted away by the President, Domingo has stood firm in the face of the challenge.
She even stated in a recent interview with Inside Asian Gaming that PAGCOR was no longer pursuing a previous order by Duterte to sell the gaming regulator’s 46 Philippine gaming establishments, happy instead to reap the benefits of the nation’s booming casino industry. For PAGCOR, that meant income from gaming operations of US$935 million in 3Q18 alone – a healthy 18.7% higher than in the same period in 2017. Meanwhile, Domingo has overseen a comprehensive overhaul of her country’s online gaming industry via the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) scheme which aims to tighten regulations and weed out some of the industry’s less salubrious characters.
For the full list of 2018 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.