MANILA, Philippines – “Magpasugal ka pa nang marami (Push gambling some more).”

This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Chairperson Andrea Domingo, as he commended her and the agency for high revenues.

In his 4th State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 22, Duterte, who once said that he hates gambling, saluted Domingo for the record-high income of Pagcor due to higher gaming revenues.

In 2018, income from gaming operations, including online and traditional physical casinos, stood at P67.9 billion. This was 18.5% higher than 2017’s P57.3 billion.

From January to April 2019, Pagcor posted an 11.4% revenue growth as its gross earnings reached P25.09 billion. This amount is P2.57 billion more than the P22.51 billion in revenues recorded in the first 4 months of 2018. (READ: Online gambling: Good for whose business?)

Duterte also lauded the remittances of government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

As of July 2019, GOCC dividend remittances have reached a record high of P61.3 billion.

Year-to-date, Pagcor is the top contributor at P16.17 billion, followed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) with P4.583 billion.

The PDIC was 2018’s top dividend contributor with a total of P8.8 billion. Pagcor contributed P2.593 billion. – Rappler.com