By CHINO S. LEYCO
Gaming revenues of state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) surpassed the target after posting a double-digit growth in income last year.
In a statement, the country's gaming regulator said that its total gaming income in 2019 amounted to ₱75.75 billion, up 11.6 percent compared with ₱67.85 billion in the previous year.
Likewise, the actual full-year revenues from gambling operations exceeded the target of ₱66.52 billion by 1.8 percent.
However, Pagcor also noted that its gross revenues dropped last year owing to the ₱32.71 billion one-time gain in 2018 from the sale of its land in Entertainment City to Sureste Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
In 2018, Pagcor's total revenues stood at ₱104.2 billion.
Among the biggest sources of Pagcor's gaming revenues were the slot machine operations, electronic bingo, table games operations, regulatory fees from the Philippine offshore gaming operations and fees from licensed casinos.
Because of the state-gaming firm’s buoyant performance in 2019, it was able to remit over P56 billion to the government through its mandated contributions and other corporate social responsibility programs.
The lion’s share of this remittance – ₱35.92 billion – went to the Bureau of the Treasury through the 50 percent government share, followed by the five percent franchise tax of ₱3.78 billion.
Pagcor's other notable contributions to the government were its ₱1.79 billion remittance to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Dangerous Drugs Board (₱60 million), and the Board of Claims (₱118.91 million), an agency under the Department of Justice which grants compensation to victims of unjust imprisonment and victims of violent crimes.
The state-run gaming firm also remitted ₱123.30 million cash incentives to national athletes and coaches who won in international sporting events by virtue of Republic Act 10699.
Likewise, cities hosting PAGCOR-operated casinos nationwide received host cities’ share, which totaled to ₱445.72 million.