Philippine-listed gambling firm Leisure & Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) remains undaunted by the earlier announcement of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that online gambling must stop as it reveals its plans to expand its gaming business in the island nation. 
Business World reported LRWC Chairman and President Reynaldo Bantug shrugged off reports that the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation (PAGCOR) has already revoked 124 eGames permit in the country, saying that it is still “business as usual” for the company. “In our business, it’s not really affecting us too much at all because even the e-Games, it’s business as usual. There is really no change in how we are operating the games,” Bantug told local media at the annual stockholders’ meeting in Pasay City on Friday. LWRC owns 69.68 percent of First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corp. Aside from bingo halls and outlets, it also offers electronic games launched by PhilWeb Corp. under a license from PAGCOR. Bantug pointed out that LWRC’s business model is not really online and that their operations cannot be considered as online gambling. “We’re happy to say that [the] company is not affected by the statement… First, our business model is not really online because, as you know, we are a bingo parlor and we don’t use the Internet for that except for a small portion of our business,” Mr. Bantug said. In the first cabinet meeting, Duterte said that he didn’t want “a proliferation of gambling activities all over the country” and complained that too many Filipinos were choosing to gamble instead of working for a living. He went on to say something about the difficulty of collecting taxes from online gambling operators, despite vast evidence to the contrary. He directed PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrea D. Domingo to revoke the licenses of online gambling operators. According to Bantug, the misconceptions about the gaming industry are already being clarified with Mr. Duterte through PAGCOR. “We follow government regulations, which are actually very strict. You have to be a certain distance from churches, certain distance from schools. You cannot allow anybody who is minor, below 21, to come in. All of your games being played has to have PAGCOR approval. So, all of these [are] being monitored very, very strictly.” While they wait for the Duterte administration to issue a clear gambling policy, Bantug said that they will be proceeding with the opening of 30 more boutique bingo sites based on their expansion plan this year. LWRC currently operates 137 bingo outlets across the Philippines. LRWC, which is focusing on building standalone sites, has reached various stages of negotiations with property owners in the provinces, particularly in Luzon and the Visayas, for the planned expansion. “But our expansion is really centered more on acquisition of existing sites and improving our own internal capabilities to be of better service to our patrons, so that will encourage them to patronize our sites more often,” Mr. Bantug said.
LRWC expansion to proceed amid Philippine president’s anti-gambling stance
