Pagcor halts online licenses

Sunday 3rd of July 2016

Gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) says it is temporarily halting the processing of all online gambling license applications, following President Duterte’s pronouncement against online gambling last week.

Last week, Duerte vowed to put an end to online gambling in the country, hours after taking an oath for presidency, saying he will direct Pagcor chief Andrea Domingo to rescind licenses that have been issued for online gambling “sometime” soon.

“For now, we will freeze the issuance of licenses for these types of games, and then review what the President said,” said Domingo said during the interview with local media.

In related news, on Friday, shares of gaming operator PhilWeb Corp. declined nearly 32 percent to their lowest in 14 months following Duterte’s announcement.

The firm has sought of a 3-day trading suspension from July 4 to July 6, 2016, citing "unverified material information" which has affected its business.

“In view of unverified material information affecting the business of PhilWeb Corporation that will materially affect the investing public, we hereby request for a trading suspension in PhilWeb shares from 4 July 2016 to 6 July 2016,” Raymund S. Aquino, PhilWeb corporate information officer, said to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PhilWeb’s contract with the Pagcor is set to expire on July 11, 2016.