Pagcor issues 40 licenses to rebranded POGOs

MANILA, Philippines — State gaming regulator and operator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) has issued a total of 40 licenses to so-called offshore gaming operators – previously referred to as Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs – which it has now termed as internet gaming licensees (IGL).

In the listing issued last week, PAGCOR bared that it has also issued nine provincial licenses to offshore gaming operators.

As of May 15, PAGCOR has 40 regular IGLs and nine provisional IGLs.

Last August, PAGCOR announced that all POGOs will be required to reapply for licenses that will involve having to comply with revised regulations for offshore gaming operators.

The revised regulations referred to was the “Internet Gaming Licensing Regulations” which had taken effect on July 12, 2023.

At the time, POGOs had persistently drawn controversy for reported violations committed by the different operators, especially concerning the hiring of foreign workers.

In October 2023, PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco had announced the change in nomenclature and acronym for the offshore gaming operators from POGO to IGL, in an exclusive interview with global gaming industry publication Inside Asian Gaming at the Global Gaming Expo summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Earlier, PAGCOR said that offshore gaming operations brought in P3.15 billion in 2023 or just 4.31 percent of their total gaming revenues in 2023 of P79.37 billion.

The Philippine gaming industry achieved record gross gaming revenues in 2023 or P285.27 billion, which Tengco said already surpassed pre-pandemic revenue levels.