PAGCOR to select service provider via public bidding

More than four months after gaming technology provider PhilWeb Corp. failed to extend a licensing deal with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), the regulator said it is now selecting its service provider via public bidding.

"We would like to clarify that during the meeting between PAGCOR and PhilWeb officials last November 4, 2016, we explained to your representatives that the selection of the service provider for PAGCOR's online gaming operations will be in accordance to Republic Act Number 9184 (RA9184), preferably through public bidding," PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo said in a letter addressed to PhilWeb.

The letter was dated December 12, 2016, received by PhilWeb on December 22, 2016, and disclosed on the local bourse on Tuesday, December 27.

PhilWeb failed to extend its licensing deal with PAGCOR which ended on August 10, 2016.

This was followed by the resignation of businessman Roberto V. Ongpin as chairman and director of the company, after having been tagged by President Rodrigo R. Duterte as among the oligarchs embedded in government.

Ongpin sold his controlling stake to the company's current chairman and director Gregorio Ma. Araneta III.

PhilWeb then said it will seek a new licensing deal with PAGCOR, under the new management.

"I'm very confident in the future of PhilWeb. I always have been irrespective of the owners," PhilWeb President Dennis Valdes said then.

The company applied for a new license from PAGCOR on October 12 and has since asked the regulator to expedite the processing.

In her letter, PAGCOR's Domingo told PhilWeb: "At any rate, we would like to assure you that we are expediting the procurement process and that we are on schedule with the timeline we provided your representatives." — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News