‘Hike PAGCOR aid’
BIGGER CITY SHARE IN CASINO REVENUES SOUGHT
The Cebu City Council has requested Mayor Edgardo Labella to formally ask the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to increase the city government’s share in revenues generated by casinos and offshore gaming operations in the city.
In his resolution, Councilor Renato Osmeña Sr. said that with the revenues generated by the casinos operating in the city, the City Hall receives only P4 million from PAGCOR every month.
The financial assistance goes directly to the city’s trust fund, and is governed by the guidelines issued by the PAGCOR as to its use, handling, and disbursement to ensure it is spent according to the purposes envisioned by the donor.
On February 4, 2020, PAGCOR announced that its gross gaming revenues in 2019 rose 11.65 percent from 67.85 billion in 2018 to 75.76 billion, exceeding the agency's 2019 target by 1.80 percent or 1.33 billion.
Osmeña said that in order to meet the needs of the less privileged sectors of society, the city should come up with ways to strengthen its financial coffers.
“Since our big city is a friendly host to a number of big casinos in the region and has been open and receptive to lucrative POGO (Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators) businesses, it is therefore timely and proper that we reach out to PAGCOR for help and support,” said Osmeña.
According to the resolution, among the biggest sources of PAGCOR gaming revenues are slot machine operations, electronic bingo, table game operations, regulatory fees from the POGOs, and fees from licenses casinos.
The council approved Osmeña's resolution in a session last February 19.
It has also requested the City Treasurer's Office and the City Budget Office to submit to the council an updated financial and utilization report on PAGCOR funds.