Pagcor says offshore gaming licenses are legal

On the heels of reports that a non-government organization is urging the Supreme Court (SC) to void offshore gaming licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the regulator on Friday defended the legality of its move.

On Wednesday, the Union for National Development and Good Governance-Philippines (UNLAD-Philippines) accused the gaming regulator of "grave abuse of discretion" and filed a petition asking the SC to declare as unconstitutional the regulations covering offshore gaming licenses.

The group claimed that the regulator was not authorized under its charter, Presidential Decree 1869, to either operate or regulate internet gambling that caters to foreign-based players and gamblers outside Philippine jurisdiction.

"PAGCOR would like to clarify that it has been functioning within the bounds of its charter to operate, authorize and license games of chance, games of cards, and games of numbers in the Philippines," the regulator said.

Gaming or gambling, as defined, is “a game of scheme, whether upon chance or skills wherein wagers consisting of money or articles of value or representative of value are made,” it said.

Such a definition deems the place of legal jurisdiction of the player as "immaterial," Pagcor noted.

"Hence, as long as the game is produced and its operation managed within the Philippine territory, it falls within PAGCOR’s jurisdiction. The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) rules, was issued precisely to regulate online gaming being produced in the Philippines despite being streamed abroad," the regulator emphasized.

The UNLAD noted the Rules on Offshore Gaming approved and currently implemented by Pagcor is null and void on grounds that the regulator is patently without jurisdiction, legislative franchise, authority or power to license the opening, establishment, operation, regulation, control and management of online gaming as defined under the same rules.

"If we are to agree with their proposition that PAGCOR is bereft of regulatory authority over these online gaming operators, then who has the authority to regulate online games in the Philippines?" Pagcor noted.

"Would it be the recipient countries or the Philippine economic zones granted by law to issue gaming licenses who should regulate? Following their own argument, the recipient countries and economic zones, obviously cannot exercise their authorities outside of their own territorial jurisdictions," it added.

Since the POGO was launched in September, the regulator noted it was able to collect P936 million from the application and processing fees alone, apart from the gaming taxes to be collected in the coming months.

"Considering that PAGCOR remits more or less 72 percent of its gross revenues to the government and its mandated beneficiaries, the revenues that it will generate from POGO will certainly help PAGCOR in further fulfilling its role as the government’s partner in nation-building," it said. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News