Loudest silence: On Sona not tackling e-gambling
Was it intentional on President Marcos’ part not to talk about online gambling during his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), despite the clamor for tighter regulations, or even an outright ban, of the industry by lawmakers and other sectors?
Wendy Estacio-Cruz, research head at Unicapital Securities Inc., told the Inquirer on Tuesday that Mr. Marcos may still be weighing “economic considerations” before making a decision on the issue, especially since online gambling continues to generate “substantial revenue” for both the government and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
“Raising the idea of a ban or stricter controls could have sent the wrong signal to investors and stakeholders,” Estacio-Cruz said in a text message.
Funding social programs
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., also pointed out that part of Pagcor’s revenues are being used to fund government social programs for years now.
The President’s choice not to make any mention about tightening regulations on online gambling likewise coincided with the need to possibly increase spending on certain sectors such as healthcare and education, both of which Mr. Marcos said would receive significant subsidies.
“It is always a delicate balancing act to regulate and prevent social ills associated with gambling,” Ricafort said.
Data from Pagcor show that electronic games continued to be its main revenue driver, accounting for 53.47 percent, or P114.83 billion, of the country’s total P214.75-billion gross gaming revenues (GGR) in the first semester.
Licensed integrated resorts and other casinos contributed P93.36 billion, or 43.47 percent, to the industry GGR.
“Pagcor recognizes the earning potential of the e-games sector, but as the country’s gaming regulator, our foremost responsibility is to ensure that growth comes with accountability,” Pagcor chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco said in a statement.
Stock performance
In 2023, Pagcor contributed P49.56 billion to nation-building projects, including free health-care coverage.
While Unicapital maintained its “neutral” rating on DigiPlus Interactive Corp. amid the uncertainty, investors gobbled up stocks of the online entertainment and gaming platform on Tuesday, a day after Mr. Marcos’ Sona.
DigiPlus closed the trading day with an 11.06-percent rally to P35.65 each. This is already an 82.45-percent recovery from its recent low of P19.54 on July 17, when it logged its worst performance in history as it took a beating from mounting calls for a total ban on online gambling.
Rival Bloomberry Resorts Corp., on the other hand, slipped by 8.99 percent to P4.15 each.
Bloomberry, which operates the brick-and-mortar Solaire casinos in Parañaque and Quezon City, also recently launched MegaFUNalo, which it intends to be a direct competitor of DigiPlus’ flagship game BingoPlus.
Still, gaming stocks are likely to benefit from the regulatory status quo, at least for now. Unlike the Philippine offshore gaming operators that saw the opposite fate last year, there is more optimism for the online gambling sector, said Ron Acoba, chief investment strategist at Trading Edge Consultancy.
“With this, we can deduce that the executive government’s position on the matter is for tighter regulation,” he explained.
