Philippines
PAGCOR was created under Presidential Decree 1869 (its consolidated charter; franchise extended to 2033 by Republic Act 9487) and is unusual worldwide in being simultaneously the gaming regulator and a commercial operator through its Casino Filipino brand. It licenses land-based casinos and, since the pandemic, domestic online gaming via Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGO) and licensed e-Games / e-Bingo remote platforms tied to land-based operators (e-sabong online cockfighting was suspended in 2022). Separately, from 2016 PAGCOR licensed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) serving players outside the Philippines; President Marcos ordered a total POGO ban in July 2024, with operations to cease by 31 December 2024. PAGCOR is also slated to privatise its own casinos (targeted around 2025–2026) to unwind the operator/regulator conflict. Some special economic zones (e.g. CEZA, APECO, AFAB) have separately issued interactive gaming licences.
Regulator and operator in one
PAGCOR's defining anomaly is that a single state body both writes and enforces the rules for Philippine gaming and runs casinos for profit under its Casino Filipino brand. A diligence reader treats this as a structural conflict: the authority that licenses, audits and sanctions competitors also earns revenue competing against them. The government has signalled an intent to separate these roles by privatising PAGCOR's own casino operations, a divestment targeted for roughly 2025 to 2026. Until that sale completes, regulatory decisions sit alongside a commercial interest in the outcomes.
The POGO rise and ban
From 2016 PAGCOR licensed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators serving players abroad, a fast-growing sector taxed under Republic Act 11590 (2021). It became associated with human trafficking, scam compounds and other crime, prompting President Marcos to order a total ban in July 2024, with operations to cease by 31 December 2024; Executive Order 74 (November 2024) directed the wind-down. Republic Act 12312, the Anti-POGO Act of 2025, signed on 23 October 2025, made the prohibition permanent and repealed the RA 11590 offshore-tax regime. The episode shows how quickly a licensed vertical was reversed.
The domestic online pivot
As offshore licensing closed, PAGCOR expanded regulated domestic online play. Philippine Inland Gaming Operators (PIGO) and licensed e-Games and e-Bingo remote platforms let land-based operators offer online products to players inside the country, distinct from the banned POGO model. Online cockfighting, or e-sabong, was a separate case, suspended in 2022 amid disappearances linked to it. The pivot reframes the market around residents rather than exports, and PAGCOR has publicly framed lower fees as a means of drawing unlicensed operators into the regulated perimeter rather than as an expansion of gambling.
Franchise tax and fee cut
Under Presidential Decree 1869 as amended, PAGCOR's gaming income carries a 5 percent franchise tax in lieu of all other taxes, including corporate income tax and VAT; the Bureau of Internal Revenue extended this treatment to licensees' gaming income via RMC 132-2024. Ordinary corporate income tax and VAT still apply to non-gaming income. Separately, operators pay regulatory fees as a share of gross gaming revenue. From 1 January 2025 the domestic online rate fell to 30 percent as standard, and 25 percent for integrated-resort operators, down from 35 percent.
Fragmented licensing authority
PAGCOR is not the only door into the market. Special economic-zone authorities, including the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO) and the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), have separately issued interactive gaming licences under their own charters. For a diligence reader this fragmentation matters: a licence may originate outside PAGCOR, with different scope, oversight and enforcement history. Confirming which authority issued a given permit, and what it actually authorises, is a necessary step rather than an assumption.
Tax
Gross gaming revenue + franchise tax
PAGCOR regulatory fees ~25-30% of GGR (domestic online/e-Games) + 5% franchise tax in lieu of other taxes
Under its charter (PD 1869 as amended), income from PAGCOR gaming operations is subject to a 5% franchise tax in lieu of all other taxes, including CIT and VAT - a benefit extending to licensees/contractees on gaming income (BIR RMC 132-2024); CIT/VAT still apply to non-gaming income. On top of this, PAGCOR levies regulatory fees as a % of GGR that vary by product; for domestic online (PIGO / e-Games) these were cut to 30% of GGR for standard operators and 25% for integrated-resort operators, effective 1 January 2025 (down from 35%). POGO (offshore) operations were banned end-2024 and permanently outlawed by RA 12312 (Anti-POGO Act of 2025).
Key facts
Licence types
Fees
Change-watch
President Marcos banned all POGOs (July 2024); operations to cease by 31 December 2024
Rapid growth of domestic online e-Games prompting tighter advertising and responsible-gaming restrictions amid public concern
Planned privatisation of PAGCOR's own casino operations advancing, aiming to resolve the operator/regulator conflict
Sources (4)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a teaching summary; confirm every figure against the primary regulator (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) before relying on it.