THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is set to lose more than P4 billion a month from the suspension of all of its games amid the enhanced community quarantine in the entire Luzon due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the same time, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) said it now expects to lose an additional P1 billion a month due to the suspension of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos) during the quarantine period. Pagcor said their projected monthly revenue loss from the month-long suspension of Pogos, casinos and gaming stations is now up at P5 billion to P6 billion, from P4 billion to P5 billion previously.
PCSO Assistant General Manager for Gaming Arnel Casas said their two largest sources of revenues are lotto games and Small Town Lottery (STL).
“The average sales for online lotto games alone is around P2.2B per month. For STL, we project another P2B. So for one month of non-operation, the PCSO will be losing more than P4B of government revenues,” Casas said in a message to the BusinessMirror.
Casas explained that online lotto games are those that people buy from lotto outlets and the tickets are printed using lotto terminals while offline games are the traditional sweepstakes tickets, scratch cards and STL.
“Scratch tickets generate around P85M to P90M per month,” he added.
On Tuesday night, the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Spokesman Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced that Pogos shall not be allowed to operate during the quarantine period, to last until April 12.
This is different from Pagcor’s earlier pronouncement that Pogos will continue to operate but only a minimum number of employees will be allowed on their workstations to secure and maintain their properties. Pagcor also earlier said the rest of Pogo workers will be restricted to their respective living quarters where they will observe social distancing and quarantine protocols.
Since Pogos will not be allowed to operate during the quarantine period, Pagcor Chairman Andrea Domingo told the BusinessMirror this will cost them an additional P1 billion a month. From her estimate of P4 billion to P5 billion a month earlier, Domingo said this will now go up to as high as P5 billion to P6 billion monthly.
For 2020, Pagcor aims to collect P85 billion in gross gaming revenues a year.
Domingo said she would normally be optimistic they would be able to hit their gross gaming revenue for this year, but she said it is still uncertain how long will the Covid-19 problem last.
“But we are ready to hit the road sprinting as soon as suspension is lifted,” Domingo said.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes