PAGCOR CEO Bullish About the Future of the Philippine Gambling Sector

The CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Alejandro Tengco, has a history of being bullish about the future of regulated gambling in the Philippines—and with good reason. The Filipino online casino and land-based gambling market has been a resounding success in recent years, generating enormously important revenues for community and government projects while maintaining a firm grip on player safety.

The Race Between the Philippines and Singapore

Speaking to Bloomberg News, Tengco made a proclamation that could lead to his counterparts in Singapore being challenged regarding their handling and expansion of their gambling jurisdiction.

The remark which could spark new levels of competition between the two markets was:

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“If Singapore doesn’t expand, they will plateau. Don’t be surprised if next year we will surpass them.”

His comment is, however, not without merit. In 2022, Singapore experienced a decline in gaming revenues, with industry pundits predicting last year that the market would grow to around $5.2 billion in 2024. This is not a fantastic result when you consider that it was worth $4.4 billion as far back as 2018.

Tengco was far more generous in his estimation, claiming he believed the market to be on track for approximately $6 billion this year. This prediction is based on the fact that the Philippines, once a far smaller market than Singapore, is predicted to gross $6.1 billion in 2024 based on its current growth trajectory.

 Online Gambling and Land-Based Expansions Are Key

The growth predictions for the Philippines are far from off the cuff. The country raked in approximately $5.2 billion in 2023 and is showing a notable upward trend as the year's first quarter draws to a close.

In addition to these projections, plans are underway to bolster the country's international gambling destination appeal by launching new integrated casino resorts in Manila, Cebu, Boracay, and Clark, the former US airbase.

Commenting on these massive expansion plans, Tengco said:

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“As you open new markets, new customers will come.”

While we appreciate his field-of-dreams approach to market expansion, it is worth noting that this is not a simple baseball field he is digging out. The proposed casino resorts will cost around $1.2 billion to construct and are a pivotal part of the country's drive to regain its 2019 international visitor levels of 8.2 million annually.

 The Philippines Doesn’t Need China to be Successful

One of the significant challenges the Filipino casino market has faced has been the lack of support from Chinese gamblers. Given the rising tensions between the two nations, Chinese tourism accounts for less than 15% of their pre-pandemic casino visitor numbers.

Statements like “Our advantage over Macau is they don’t have online gaming” and “[the resorts will] hopefully neutralise the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals” show that Tengco and PAGCOR's leadership see the casino resort expansions and their ongoing success as a leading Asian online gambling market as the pivotal to their success in the face of diminished Chinese support.

Tengco also revisited the launch of a new PAGCOR online gambling website. The regulator is entertaining potential joint venture proposals to help them get the project off the ground.