Private casinos may affect PSC’s Pagcor share

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia yesterday expressed concern over the possible dip in the government sports body’s share from casinos, especially with the emergence of private gambling establishments.

Garcia said already, the PSC’s monthly share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) dwindled to about P40 million in December 2012, from a high of P60 million, and he feared the downward trend could go on once the private casinos open.

“If the trend continues and let’s say we’ll drop by about P10 million a month, that’s already P120 million a year (in decrease) so malaking mawawala sa PSC (the PSC stands to lose a lot from our share from Pagcor),” the PSC chief said.

Per Republic Act 6847, the PSC receives five percent of the income of the Pagcor to finance the country’s integrated sports programs. The computation of the five percent share is also a subject of debate between the two government entities.

Garcia said to his knowledge, private casino operations, such as the one at Resorts World and new entities at Pagcor City, do not fall under this category.

“Pag nagbukas ang private casinos, apektado tayo kasi private yan, hindi naman sila magbibigay sa amin ng share doon (Once the private casinos start operations, it will affect our share. Those are private casinos, I doubt if they will remit shares to PSC),” said Garcia.

He added they might seek the help of Congress to try to get a slice from private casino revenues.

“Dapat meron kami (We should have a share, too). They have to study that, Congress has to look at it,” Garcia said.

“It’s a very major concern for PSC kasi maraming magsusugal sa bagong casino (many will move over to the private casinos), which will deprive PSC of our Pagcor share,” he added.