PhilWeb secures PAGCOR accreditation

PhilWeb Corp. said on Monday it has secured the accreditation from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to serve as provider of electronic gaming system service (EGSS).

"PhilWeb Corp. received today the Certificate of Accreditation from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation as an Electronic Gaming System Service Provider of PAGCOR-licensed Gaming Sites for Electronic Games," it said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

An accredited EGSS may offer software and other services to operators of PAGCOR-licensed gaming sites for electronic games.

PhilWeb's accreditation was signed by PAGCOR chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo on October 30, 2017.

PhilWeb secured a provisional accreditation from the gaming regulator in August.

“We are grateful to PAGCOR chairman Domingo and the entire board of directors of PAGCOR for their faith in our company and for giving us the opportunity to deliver services to their electronic gaming operators once again," PhilWeb president Dennis Valdes said at that time.

PAGCOR decided in August last year not to renew a licensing deal with PhilWeb after President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to stop the proliferation of online gambling in the country.

Duterte also tagged former PhilWeb chairman Roberto Ongpin as among the oligarchs that must be weeded out of the government.

Ongpin then sold all his shares to current PhilWeb chairman Gregorio Ma. Araneta III for P2.006 billion in October 2016.

PhilWeb shares plunged at that time to as low as P4.25 apiece.

On Monday, PhilWeb closed at P7.86 per share, down P0.19 or 2.36 percent from P8.05 on Friday.

PhilWeb sent in February this year a proposal to renegotiate its service contract and operate the e-Games network of PAGCOR. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News