pagcor

The hacktivist group Deathnote Hackers International has claimed responsibility for the leak of roughly 445,000 entries from Pagcor's National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP), which contains names of government officials prohibited from playing in gambling establishments.

Two lawmakers sounded the alarm over the growing reach of online gambling in the Philippines, as Pagcor revealed during a House budget hearing that 18 to 20 million Filipinos have registered with gambling apps, with 8 to 10 million of them considered active players.

Pagcor has ordered the immediate dismantling by Aug. 15 of all billboards and out-of-home (OOH) gambling advertisements.

Pagcor chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the government has no plans to revive online sabong (cockfighting) operations.

Under the law, winnings from e-sabong above P10,000 are subjected to 20-percent withholding tax.

The Senate on Monday, Feb. 28, formally filed a resolution urging the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to suspend the operation of the popular "E-sabong" or online cockfight until the cases of the 31 missing cockfight aficionados are resolved.

But, with e-sabong reaching OFWs – particularly lonely seamen -- who have become addicted to the game, Pagcor recently made the decision to block bets from abroad in local e-sabong platforms.

As of December 2019, of the 118,239 workers in POGO establishments, eight out of 10 workers (82.3 percent) are foreigners, and the remaining two workers (17.7 percent) are Filipinos, data from Pagcor showed.

For the first time in 19 years, the BPO sector is going to be number 2 to the Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) industry, which is projected to take up 450,000 square meters of office space by the end of 2019.

Online gambling in the Philippines is going to overtake local casinos sooner than later. That?s the fearless forecast of Dennis Valdez, president of PhilWeb, the only authorized online gambling operator in the Philippines.