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The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) has confirmed that electronic gaming operators are allowed to offer number games such as lottery to their customers.
The confirmation came shortly after the nationwide POGO ban, which caused some electronic gaming services (including an online bingo service provider and foreign gaming machine manufacturer) to verify their statuses.
“Number games shall not, in any way, utilise the same drawing device, tool and equipment being implemented currently by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in its lottery draws” and that “minimum bet for number games shall not be less than PHP5 (US$0.08)” were quoted from PAGCOR’s memorandum, which was prepared by PAGCOR’s assistant vice president Jeremy Luglug, reported by Philippines news agencies.
It was also stated that operators must pay an application fee of PHP200,000 (US$3,458.68) for a two-year gaming licence and PHP200,000 in cash deposit per gaming venue.
In total,15% of the gross gaming revenue for live-streamed games and an initial 35 percent share rate for random number generator (RNG)-based games will go to PAGCOR, from July to December 2024. By January 2025, the share rate for RNG-based games will go down to 30%.
“Pagcor should allow gaming only in integrated resort casinos and hotels catering mainly to foreign tourists, if possible only minimally to local tourists. But they should spare the internet from excessive gaming because a lot of young Filipinos, especially children, are on the internet,” Capstone-Intel Corp. CEO Nicasio Conti said.
Conti was also the former commissioner for the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and Presidential Commission on Good Government.
