Pagcor revokes 197 gaming licenses

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) yesterday revoked the licenses of 197 gaming entities located near schools or churches.

This developed as Pagcor announced it is now laying the groundwork for offshore gaming, which is targeting foreign players. 

The move to revoke licenses is in compliance with the directive of President Duterte to stop the proliferation of online gaming in the country – especially among lower income groups, Pagcor said.

The revoked licenses include 120 non-compliant e-Bingo sites, 40 e-Games sites, three Instawin sites and 16 hybrid sites, which are combination of e-Games and Instawin.

Pagcor said most of these online gaming sites violated the distance restriction guidelines such as 200 meters away from the nearest school, 200 meters away from church and 500 meters from the nearest electronic gaming site, or one kilometer away from the nearest existing bingo site.

In other cases, some entities failed to comply with Pagcor’s construction guidelines, which state that a gaming establishment must be constructed within 45 days upon receipt of the notice of approval.

Some of the licensees had received their notice of approval for over three months but did not immediately commence construction.

The revocation of licenses took effect immediately following a nationwide mapping of physical gaming facilities Pagcor conducted recently.