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The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation voided about P310 million in casino winnings from public officials in 2025, PAGCOR chairperson Alejandro Tengco said Monday. In an ambush interview, Tengco said the people involved came from different government departments, as well as from local government units.
He said many of those who complained argued that they had a right to the winnings because they had already won. PAGCOR’s position, however, was that government employees should not have been gambling in the first place because the law clearly bars them from doing so.
Under Presidential Decree No. 1869, or the PAGCOR Charter, and Memorandum Circular No. 6, series of 2016, government officials are prohibited from taking part in casino gambling. Tengco said the agency also reports erring employees to their respective offices when such cases come to light.
Law Bars Government Employees From Gambling
Tengco said PAGCOR’s standard response is that the employee should not have been allowed to play at all. He stressed that the winnings were confiscated because the person involved should never have been inside the gaming venue in the first place.
The controversy has resurfaced due to allegations of government personnel using casinos as a conduit to launder their bribes or kickbacks from government projects. Tengco’s remarks came as part of a wider effort to reinforce restrictions on public employees entering gaming venues.
DOJ Agreement to Tighten Access Checks
The PAGCOR chair made the comments on the sidelines of a visit to the Department of Justice, where a memorandum of agreement was signed to share the profiles of DOJ employees and staff from attached agencies. The arrangement is intended to help prevent their presence in gaming venues.
Tengco explained that this is one way to limit the access of those public employees who should not be allowed to gamble in the first place. It is part of the overall drive to enhance the monitoring and ensure that government employees do not gamble in casinos where they are not allowed to play.
Other Agencies Seek Similar Coordination
Tengco also said the matter has attracted attention from other parts of the government. He said 2 secretaries from other agencies have already reached out to PAGCOR to discuss how they could help share information on government personnel and employees.
This interest indicates that perhaps there is already a move towards the coordination of these agencies to find means to locate public servants who should not be in the gaming venues. For PAGCOR, the objective is still clear: to enforce the ban, annul the winnings, and report to the relevant offices if any are found violating.
Source: GMA News
