Pagcor posts record income of P17.45 billion last year

Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) Chairman Efraim C. Genuino announced yesterday that PAGCOR registered a total income of P17.45 billion for 2001, or an "impressive over 20-percent increase" from last year’s revenues of P14.61 billion.

"We achieved PAGCOR’s phenomenal profits in spite of the economic meltdown that characterized the global landscape in 2001. It didn’t stop us from exceeding our target. We offer this achievement to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her leadership, her clear directive to produce outstanding results, has been our inspiration and our guide," Genuino said.

Genuino noted that aside from breaking its previous income records, PAGCOR also exceeded by eight percent its 2001 revenue target of P16.15 billion. The bulk of the corporation’s income, or P15.6 billion, came from the winnings of its 13 casinos and two slot machine arcades. PAGCOR’s in-house and commercial bingo operations netted P928 million while jai-alai posted an annual income of only P52.4 million after having been ordered suspended by the President in June of last year.

Following its legal mandate, PAGCOR remitted P9.61 billion, or 55 percent of its income, to the national treasury and the President’s Social Fund in 2001. A substantial amount was used to fund the pro-poor, socio-economic programs of President Arroyo.

Genuino attributed PAGCOR’s much-improved financial revenue stream to the scientific reforms he instituted which benefited the rank-and-file significantly, the ongoing casino expansion and modernization program, as well as the shift in the marketing thrust of Casino Filipino from gaming to entertainment.

The Genuino leadership has scheduled this year the ground-breaking of the P15-billion PAGCOR. Entertainment City, which is touted this early, has the "Las Vegas of Asia" because of its great in attracting both foreign and domestic tourists and international investors to the Philippines.