PhilWeb submits business plan

GAMING technology provider PhilWeb Corp. presented a new business plan to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) after its license to manage Internet casino cafes expired amid a government campaign against online gambling.

In a letter to the regulator’s board of directors on Wednesday, PhilWeb President Dennis O. Valdes proposed a lottery scheme utilizing the text messaging services of incumbent telecommunication companies.

The betting system called “PAGCOR Text Bonanza” is based on proprietary software developed by PhilWeb. It allows for an individual to place a bet on lotteries through smart mobile phones.

Under the scheme, the bettor may send a lottery number though text message to servers managed by PhilWeb or PAGCOR and receive afterwards a confirmatory message that will serve as his or her lottery ticket.

Mr. Valdes submitted the proposal to sustain PhilWeb, which had depended on the operation of e- Games or Internet cafes dedicated to casino games under an intellectual property management agreement with PAGCOR.

The regulator refused to renew the company’s contract on President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s directive to stop online gambling operations in the Philippines. This effectively forced PhilWeb out of business on Aug. 10.

Controlling shareholder Roberto V. Ongpin, however, deemed the non-renewal of the license a collateral damage arising from the President’s campaign to “destroy” the businessman among other “oligarchs.”

In this light, Mr. Ongpin resigned as chairman and director on Aug. 4 in order to spare PhilWeb from attacks supposedly directed at him personally. Still, PAGCOR would allow the company’s license to expire.

Mr. Ongpin then announced his divestment from PhilWeb on Aug. 10. He initially placed his entire 53.76% stake comprising 771,749,896 shares in PhilWeb on the auction block.

The embattled businessman, however, later offered to donate 49% to PAGCOR and the remaining 4.7% to the Ateneo de Manila University JVO (Jaime V. Ongpin) Scholarship Fund following reports the regulator continued to lean against issuing a new license.

PAGCOR turned down the donation, prompting Mr. Ongpin to repackage the offer by earmarking proceeds from the shares for the establishment of a nationwide network of drug rehabilitation centers.

“With our former chairman... having resigned from PhilWeb and while PAGCOR is studying his latest proposal... it has become incumbent upon me as the most senior officer of PhilWeb at this time, to exhaust all efforts in trying to maintain the continued existence of PhilWeb,” Mr. Valdes said.

The project proposal “has nothing to do whatsoever with ‘ online gaming’” that PAGCOR wanted eliminated, Mr. Valdes noted.