Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING OCTOBER 2018 32 It’s been an eventful few years for the Philippines gaming industry under the rule of President Rodrigo Duterte. Inside Asian Gaming sat down with Andrea Domingo , chair and CEO of Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR , to discuss some of the key issues and events. INSIGHTS LAW AND ORDER Andrew W Scott: In January, President Duterte ordered a moratorium on any new casinos for the period of five years. What sort of impact does that have on PAGCOR’s role as Philippines gaming regulator? Andrea Domingo: It really has no impact. In fact, for me, it made my job simpler because assessing, evaluating all the applicants – and there are a lot of applicants – to see if they meet the requirements, it’s a very tedious job. Plus in most countries, in the third world, there are still a lot of influence peddlers who might want to try. I sometimes get tired of saying no. AWS: The Philippines gaming industry has changed dramatically over the last five to ten years. Now that By Andrew W Scott Entertainment City has had some time to settle down, how do you see the Philippines gaming industry in five or ten years’ time? AD: I think it’s going to go great. But there would probably be a more scientific approach to the program and project mixes and more sophisticated marketing programs. But I think this industry is going to grow. AWS: Do you see more expansion in the future? AD: I think so, yes. In fact, the existing casinos now are expanding, like Solaire. They had their provisional license provided for two casinos, so now I am told they are going to develop their second casino in Quezon City after meeting all