Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JUN 2020 48 PAGCOR Chairman and CEO, Andrea Domingo. PAGCORのアンドレア・ドミンゴ会長兼CEO 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 have been, and continue to be, held under serious scrutiny, as these operations and some of their side effects have ballooned in certain areas of the Philippines. The negatives have included, but are not limited to, immigration issues, significant impacts on the residential and commercial real estate markets,