The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s robust showing in revenues hasn’t gone unnoticed by people in the Philippine government. In fact, the Manila Bulletin reports that the Department of Finance has already made estimates on how much the state-owned government agency is expected to give back to the Bureau of Treasury alone next year.
The number? At least Php 11.1 billion.
As mandated by Philippine law, Pagcor is required to remit at least 50% of its annual gross earnings to the government. In the first half of 2012, Pagcor has already given back Php 6.855 billion back to the Philippine government with that number spiking to Php 8.022 billion when taking earnings from the month of July into consideration.
Looking at the growing momentum Pagcor seems to be generating on a monthly basis, that 2013 Php 11.1 billion benchmark is looking more and more like a conservative estimate, especially if the government agency continues to roll out record-breaking monthly revenue without even so much as a drop of sweat.
There’s no denying that Pagcor’s recent business run has been nothing but smooth sailing, but the government agency still has to deal with a boatload of controversies along the way. The latest of these seemingly endless episodes is new allegations surrounding high-profile criminal Rolito Go’s alleged visit to a Pagcor casino branch in Pampanga days before Go was reported missing from his home at the New Bilibid Prison. Apparently, Go, who claimed to have been kidnapped at the prison, took in a few hours of his unplanned vacation from behind bars inside the casino – a witness said that the Go was even playing baccarat at the casino – before he was apprehended and sent back in the can.
In a statement, Pagcor debunked these reports, saying that Go wasn’t seen in the premises of the Casino Filipino in Pampanga by its employees. “The General Manager of Casino Filipino Angeles in coordination with PAGCOR’s Security Head immediately verified with its officials and employees if indeed Mr. Go was in the casino on the said date,” the statement said.
“They were presented a recent photo of Mr. Go. No one from the casino saw him on that day nor in any other occasion. Pagcor added that footage from closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the Pampanga branch is only retained “for a short period of time.”
“We wish to emphasize that Pagcor does not tolerate the entry of restricted personalities such as known fugitives from justice to our casinos,” the statement added.
This just goes to show that for all the positive feedback Pagcor has received for its impressive business revenues, the government agency still can’t escape the headlines for the wrong reasons.
