BIZ BUZZ: Sona 2025: Any bombshell?
As President Marcos goes to Congress to deliver his State of the Nation Address (Sona) today, one regulator who is particularly on edge is Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Alejandro Tengco.
After all, the bombshell dropped at last year’s Sona was the total ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators, an industry that had once laid the golden eggs but at hefty social costs that the government no longer wanted the country to pay.
This year, the dilemma is on how to deal with online gaming amid snowballing pressure from the Church and some lawmakers. Mr. Marcos has two options: totally ban online gaming or tighten regulations.
“We don’t know. We just wait,” Tengco told Biz Buzz on the sidelines of last week’s Philippine Hotel Connect 2025 Forum. “I think the President will be tackling it,” he said.
For sure, Pagcor is hoping that the Palace would take the pragmatic approach, which is to go for regulatory reforms instead of an outright ban. Otherwise, it will mean that the local gaming industry will lose nearly half of its current business, given the stunning shift in revenue contribution from online platforms.
In the first quarter of this year—and for the first time in history—the electronic gaming sector (e-games and e-bingo) surpassed brick-and-mortar casinos in terms of gross gaming revenues, racking up P51.39 billion in the first quarter versus the P49.28 billion contributed by licensed casinos.
Anything short of a ban won’t be a bombshell. However, it will surely be a welcome regulatory clarification.
Meanwhile, some people speculate that there may be a bombshell, alright, but not necessarily about online gaming.
What some people wait to hear is something related to the ongoing trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague. After all, there have been parties urging President Marcos to bring the Philippines back to the fold of the International Criminal Court (ICC), subject to further ratification by the Senate.
To recall, the Philippines withdrew from ICC—the world’s only permanent institution to investigate and prosecute genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression—in 2019 during Duterte’s term.
If the chatter on the ICC comeback is correct, it will be explosive indeed.
