Business World Online quoted Pagcor’s Chief Legal Counsel Jay Daniel R. Santiago as saying Pagcor intends to devise a proposed “mechanism to control online gambling” as the state agency increases the number of online betting stations outside the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority. “We are currently testing software applications in different scenarios. We aim to come up with a possible system by mid-year.”
The ‘online gambling’ system Santiago was referring to involves closed-loop electronic kiosks, but Pagcor is also looking to launch a web-based online gambling network. Three Clark Pampanga Freeport Zone-based outfits — Eagle Sky, Oxford, and Fontana — have received permits. Unlike the betting stations, this online option would serve customers beyond the Philippines’ borders, in countries where such services were legal, while using IP address identification to block access from locals. Pagcor had previously denied an application by PhilWeb Corp. to launch an online gambling site because it would have allowed Filipinos access. As Santiago told the Inquirer, “We don’t want to bring betting inside a residential house.” (At least, not houses in the Philippines.) Naguiat echoed Santiago’s vision: “Basically, the concept of this is that betting will be outside the country, not inside the country.” Naguiat figures Pagcor could reap P500m from such a system in its first year of operation.
Not all Pagcor news is about money coming in, however. TaxNews.com reports that Pagcor recently made good on some P857m in unpaid back taxes, most of which was incurred between 2004 and 2010 under the agency’s previous administration. Pagcor had initially balked at accepting responsibility for the debt, claiming it was supposed to be a tax-exempt organization, but a Supreme Court decision upholding the decision to strip Pagcor of its tax-exempt status left the agency with little option. Death and taxes…