Philippines Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has doubled down on his call for gaming regulator PAGCOR to privatize its self-operated casinos, claiming the process should be rapid and does not require specific legislation to mandate.
While PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco has already outlined his intention to sell during his current term – even detailing a raft of investments currently being made to enhance the value of PAGCOR’s casinos – Diokno said during a briefing on Friday, “The best practice is to separate … [PAGCOR] cannot be both an operator (and regulator). That is conflicting.”
According to BusinessWorld, he added that Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr “knows it’s not smart to have the same operator and (regulator). That’s a conflict of interest.”
