Pagcor turns old slot machines into school desks

MANILA, Philippines - Some 1,160 decommissioned slot machines have been recycled into school desks and distributed to 19 public schools by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

Maricar Bautista, assistant vice president for corporate communications of Pagcor, yesterday said the state-run gaming firm is perhaps the only casino operator in the world that utilizes discarded parts from old slot machine stands to produce functional school desks.

“We collect the old wooden stands of our slot machines from our Casino Filipino branches in Metro Manila and they are brought to Pagcor’s Imus warehouse in Cavite for fabrication. We have been doing this since 2010 as part of our contribution to address the shortage of classroom furniture in our public learning institutions,” Bautista said.

“This is another testament to Filipino ingenuity. As we often say, only in the Philippines can we find such a unique idea. Every slot machine stand is utilized to make school desks. And because materials used for the stands are of good quality, so are the school desks,” she said.

The desks made by Pagcor consist of the two-seater and three-seater types, depending on the needs of the schools requesting for them.

Those with small classrooms usually ask for the three-seater type to be able to accommodate more pupils, Bautista said.

She said each unit has enough elbow room to provide the students ease and comfort during class hours.

The cost per fabricated school desk is roughly P600, according to Bautista, much cheaper than school chairs sold commercially, which range from P2,000 to P2,500 per unit.

Among the recent recipients of Pagcor’s school desks are two day care centers and three public elementary schools in Pasay City, Cavite and Oriental Mindoro.