Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2020年6月 亞博匯 48 COLUMNISTS A s the brick and mortar gaming world fell silent in response to the coronavirus, many online gaming operations continued throughout the pandemic. However, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and President Rodrigo Duterte also shuttered the Philippine Online Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the middle of March in response to the outbreak. POGOs have made a sizeable impact financially to the Philippines, with revenues increasing by more than 13% from 2018 to 2019. In late April, the government began to hold conversations about restarting these operations and deeming them essential businesses as a way to help finance a government heavily hit by a revenue shortfall due to the pandemic. After a six – week break, they were allowed to restart these operations following the strictest guidelines issued by the government under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). Restrictions included limitations on staff sizing (30%), shuttle services for employees, temperature checks, social distancing and masks for employees. It was stated that the suspension of POGOs cost PAGCOR as much as Php600 million (roughly US$12 million) in monthly revenue. PAGCOR itself is the third largest revenue generating agency for the Philippine Government, just after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs. POGOs have been operating since 2016 and have proven to be a solid revenue generator for both operators and the regulatory body. However, they 為 應對新冠肺炎疫情，當全球實體賭場採取不 同措施令市場變得寂靜時，不少網絡博彩營 運商繼續在疫情大流行下運作。然而，菲律賓 博彩監管機構PAGCOR及總統杜特爾特所採 取的防治疫情措施包括自3月中旬起，關閉所 有離岸博彩營運商（POGOs）。POGO公司對菲律賓的財政狀況有 一定影響力，其收入從2018年到2019年增長了13％以上。 自4月底起，菲政府開始商談重啟有關營運，並視之為重要業 務，可為政府帶來財政收入，因為當局為應對疫情導致收入嚴重短 缺。經歷六個星期的業務停頓後，POGOs獲准重啟業務，但必須遵 守政府在嚴格社區隔離措施框架下所訂立的指引，包括員工人數 限制為30％、為員工安排接送巴士、體溫檢查、合適的社交距離以 及為員工提供口罩。 據稱POGOs業務暫停為PAGCOR造成的每月收入損失高達6 億披索（1200萬美元）。PAGCOR是菲政府部門中第三高收入的機 構，僅次於國內稅收局（BIR）和海關。 菲離岸博彩營運自2016年起啟動，事實證明這對運營商和監 管機構而言，都是可觀的收入來源。但POGOs一直持續受到嚴格 審查，因相關業務及其副作用在菲律賓某些地區極速衍生，包括 但不限於移民問題，對住宅和商業房地產市場造成的重大影響，