The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) will maintain its freeze on new online gaming licences as it seeks to reduce inactive and weaker operators in the regulated market.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the regulator has no immediate plans to lift the moratorium introduced by a board resolution in March 2024. The number of online gaming licensees has fallen to 48 from 74.
“For now, I want the whole industry to consolidate. So that the weak can leave and when it consolidates, we will decide if we will issue licenses next time,” Tengco said during a House committee on appropriations hearing.
Tengco said some businesses had kept licences inactive while attempting to sell them, and PAGCOR is taking action against those operators.
“As I explained, there are a lot of people who were granted licenses. We didn’t realize that some of them were just keeping the licenses idle, trying to sell them. But we are making efforts to eliminate those,” he said in Filipino.
Consolidation Remains The Priority
The decision comes amid weaker activity in the Philippine online gaming sector. PAGCOR expects total income to decline by about 18 percent in 2026 to nearly PHP86.95 billion, from PHP106.03 billion in 2025.
The regulator linked the expected decline partly to the removal of direct links between e-wallets and gambling platforms and weaker consumer spending associated with the Middle East crisis. Tengco previously said gaming activity dropped about 40 percent after payment platforms were delinked from gambling sites.
PAGCOR will also retain its fee structure. E-game operators pay 30 percent of gross gaming revenue, while integrated resorts pay 25 percent under rates effective January 1.
“Nothing will change. We can’t change it to have a constancy in our revenue,” Tengco said.
PAGCOR estimates GGR, calculated as total bets less payouts, at around PHP370 billion this year, below the PHP396.14 billion recorded in the previous year.
PAGCOR Targets Gambling Promotions
Tengco also disclosed that PAGCOR fined an online gaming company PHP1 million after it ran a giveaway of 100 high-end phones promoted by influencer Ivana Alawi.
Participants had to “like” the gambling platform’s social media page to qualify. PAGCOR ordered the company to stop the promotion and issued a stern warning.
“If it is repeated, there will be a heavier fine and the possibility that it can lead…another violation can lead to the suspension and ultimately, the cancellation of their license,” Tengco said.
The matter arose after Kamanggagawa party-list Rep. Elijah Fernando raised concerns about content creators and influencers promoting online gambling.
PAGCOR works with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, National Telecommunications Commission and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center on cases involving illegal gambling promotions.
“Those who filed a case against the endorsers or influencers came from the CICC. We are reporting to them and they are the ones filing a case. As far as I know, I think they have already filed 12 or 15 cases,” Tengco said.
PAGCOR estimates that about half of online gambling sites accessed in the Philippines operate illegally.
Source:
“Pagcor rules out entry of new e-gaming operators”, philstar.com, August 27, 2026
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