Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chair Andrea Domingo has nipped gaming technology provider PhilWeb Corporation’s mobile lottery venture in the bud.
ABS-CBN News reported that the state regulator rejected the proposed lottery betting system of PhilWeb called PAGCOR Text Bonanza, in which chosen lottery numbers are texted by a bettor to the joing PhilWeb-PAGCOR servers via mobile messaging services of telecommunications companies in the country.
The PAGCOR Text Bonanza project proposal was submitted to the state regulator on August 24 as PhilWeb attempts to salvage the jobs of roughly 5,000 employees and to maintain the continued existence of the gaming technology provider.
But Domingo, in thumbing down the proposal, said in a statement: “I sympathize with the affected employees but there is nothing that I can think of that we can do for them. Although they can apply and qualify to fill up any of our job vacancies in our office.”
Philweb, for its part, declined to comment on the report. In a statement filed before the Philippine Stock Exchange, PhilWeb Corporate Information Officer Raymund Aquino said that they have not yet received any official statement from the state regulator.
Aquino, however, informed the Philippine bourse that PhilWeb is placing 216 out of its 700 employees on “forced leave” while it is working on a renewed license with PAGCOR.
“During this time of the company’s discussions with Pagcor for the renewal of the Intellectual Property Licensing and Management Agreement (IPLMA), the company will temporarily put on ‘forced leave’ [its]216 employees for a period of one month effective on September 1, 2016,” it added.
PhilWeb wound down its business of providing software and associated facilities for 286 e-Games or Internet cafes exclusively for casino games on Aug. 10, after the PAGCOR refused to renew their IPLMA.
The state-run corporation, which regulates the country’s gaming industry, allowed the contract to expire on President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s directive to stop online gambling operations during the first Cabinet meeting on June 30.
