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No appeal for Philweb, says Pagcor

Philippines’ gaming regulator has closed the door on a possible appeal by Philweb Corp. to renew its license, according to remarks from its chairman on Tuesday.

Last week, Andrea Domingo, Pagcor’s chief announced that PhilWeb's license would not be renewed, plummeting shares in the company to a 52-week low.

Philweb’s majority owner and chairman Roberto Ongpin even offered to sell his stake in the company in an attempt to save the business, after he was singled out by Duterte as an “oligarch”.

"If it [the appeal] does come in, we will discuss it with the board, but I think the pronouncement of the President on these types of gaming is very clear," Pagcor Chairman Andrea Domingo told Mornings@ANC

"[Duterte] does not want online gaming or hybrid games like this to proliferate in the country because it caters mostly to the indigent or needy people. Its audience are likely to be lower CDE (economic classes)" she added.

However, Domingo clarified that Pagcor did not single out PhilWeb.

"I think what we’re going to do is probably just natural attrition since they would have ongoing licenses with us…so we're not renewing contracts or licenses anymore," she said.

On Tuesday, Philweb reported a fall in net income for the three months ended June 30, down 89 percent to PHP22.2 million ($478,800) from PHP201.7 million in 2015.

The firm posted operating revenue of PHP435.3 million in 16Q2, up by 8.6 percent from the prior-year period. The firm said the increase was mainly due to accrued expense and impairment of assets “as a result of temporary suspension of e-Games operation”.

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