2023 has been a fantastic year for gambling in the Philippines thanks to the efforts of its regulatory authority, PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation). While they have celebrated several noteworthy achievements and milestones over the year, they have hit two home runs in November alone.

 DOJ Program Accreditation Achieved

In addition to ensuring that players can gamble safely and that the casino operators adhere to the fair play standards, honour deposits and withdrawals, and contribute positively to the industry's growth, they are also responsible for dispute resolutions when things go awry.

The Filipino Department of Justice (DOJ) held an award ceremony on November 22nd to recognise PAGOR's success with its Alternative Dispute Resolution (OADR) program.

DOJ Undersecretary Attorney Irene de Torres-Alogoc said:

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“We were surprised by PAGCOR’s high success rate. We hope to have more (success) because when there are disputes in an agency, it is hard to work. It affects the productivity of the office itself.”

The DOJ found that the program was in complete alignment with the government OADR Accreditation Guidelines and the stringent training requirements that ensure the agents involved in the process can handle disputes and de-escalate tense interactions.

PAGCOR broke new ground in the Philippines with this award as they are the first government-owned entity to have received this level of accreditation from the DOJ.

 Record-breaking Revenue Remittance

The wins kept coming as the gambling regulator presented the government with its second yearly remittance payment. The first was a healthy Php1.95 billion (€32.2 million), which went a long way towards helping local communities and other grassroots initiatives.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO, Alejandro H. Tengco said:

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“Last year was a banner season for us in terms of revenue generation, and this enabled us to set aside additional funds to support various national government initiatives.”

November 15th saw them blow this original figure out of the water with a donation of Php5 billion (€82.6 million) to the National Treasury!

Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Anthony G. Mariño said:

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“The national government, particularly the Department of Finance, is really working towards ensuring the physical stability of the state after the pandemic, and having additional funds certainly aids in that effort.”

The combined remittances come to Php6.95 billion (€114.8 million), which surpassed the 2022 remittance of  Php6 billion (€99.1 million) by a noteworthy 9.3%!

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