Online gaming Pagcor's call – DoJ

ANY online gaming venture undertaken subject to the regulatory authority of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

This was according to the legal opinion of the Department of Justice ( DoJ).

This legal opinion, signed by DoJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd, was made in view of a letter to the Justice department sent by Emmanuel Pineda, chairman and administrator of the Authority of the Freeport of Bataan ( AFAB).

Pineda in his letter had requested legal opinion on online gaming at the Freeport of Bataan (FAB).

A certain Grand Innovasia Concept Corporation (GICC) was licensed by AFAB to operate in the realm of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) support of offshore or online gaming.

The GICC reportedly caters solely to international clients without access to the local market.

But according to Pineda, the GICC has extended its BPO support for online gaming done abroad and that no actual gaming operations take place inside the FAB.

In its reply, dated June 6, 2017 but released only recently, Aguirre opined that “unless there is a clear grant upon an ecozone such as AFAB to regulate games of chance, the Pagcor’s statutory regulatory function prevails.”

“All told, and for the reasons already stated, we opine that any online gaming venture undertaken by the GICC, despite being limited only to foreign markets, should be subject to the regulatory authority of the Pagcor, not the AFAB,” the legal opinion said.