Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 14) — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) could fetch at least P60 billion once put on the auction block, barely a third of the price tag estimated by the Finance department, the head of the state-run gaming agency said on Monday.
The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier put PAGCOR’s selling price within the P200 billion to P250 billion range, but PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco told a House committee hearing that the estimate factored in real estate properties initially thought to be PAGCOR’s.“Ang original estimate ng DOF was something like P200 to P250 billion. Hindi po mangyayari yun dahil walang property na kasama na ibinebenta ang PAGCOR. So we’re looking at about P60 to 80 billion,” Tengco said.[Translation: The DOF’s original estimate was something like P200 to P250 billion. That will not happen because PAGCOR is not selling any property.]He pointed out that PAGCOR has just been leasing properties that house its casino operations. The gaming-regulator-cum-operator has a few remaining idle assets, including the Nayong Pilipino complex, Tengco said.The government had been wanting to divest PAGCOR so that it will only be a regulator. Tengco told lawmakers that governments elsewhere do not have gaming agencies that operate casinos themselves, something that investors frown upon and view as a conflict of interest.Albay representative Joey Salceda responded to Tengco’s estimate, “Pag-aagawan kayo niyan [You will be fought over].” Tengco said it is the agency’s “minimum peg” and the amount is expected to go up during the bidding process.Based on Salceda’s estimate, PAGCOR could be valued between P120 billion and P128 billion.The planned rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that would decongest the country’s main gateway could raise PAGCOR’s valuation, Tengco maintained.But Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez said the privatization of PAGCOR will result in lost income for the government.Tengco said PAGCOR’s annual income could hit the P100-billion mark by 2025. In the first half of this year, it already made P36 billion and could end 2023 with P72 billion in net income, he said.Rodriguez said he will soon file a resolution opposing the privatization of PAGCOR.
