{"id":38660,"date":"2016-08-20T14:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-08-20T21:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=38660"},"modified":"2016-08-19T13:33:15","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T20:33:15","slug":"pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/","title":{"rendered":"PAGCOR Rejects Ownership of Philweb, as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Seeks to Destroy Ongpin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filipino billionaire Roberto Ongpin\u2019s last-ditch attempt to save his gaming company Philweb<\/a> from the wrath of the country’s President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s anti-online gambling crusade may have hit a dead end. But Ongpin is trying every tactic in his arsenal to save the company from total collapse.<\/p>\n

Ongpin said on Friday that he would put his entire stake in PhilWeb towards drug rehab clinics in the country if it would get PAGCOR to renew PhilWeb’s gaming license. It’s unclear if these clinics already exist, or would be a new public and private joint effort. As of this writing, there has been no word on whether Ongpin’s latest offer might be accepted by Duterte or PAGCOR.<\/p>\n

\"Rodrigo
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) has so far been unbending in working with PhilWeb President Roberto Ongpin (right), who says he now just wants to save his employees’ jobs at any cost. (Image: news.abs-cbn.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier this week, Ongpin offered to donate almost all of his majority stake in the company to state operator-regulator PAGCOR<\/a>, in an attempt to save the business and its 6,000 employees. But\u00a0PAGCOR said yesterday that it would reject the offer, saying its hands were tied by Duterte\u2019s harsh and immoveable stance against online gambling.<\/p>\n

Until recently, Philweb operated 299 \u201cE-game boutiques\u201d throughout the country, which offered variations of online gambling, such as video poker and slots, via roughly 8,000 terminals. Last year, Philweb\u2019s operations contributed around $12.2 million to government coffers.<\/p>\n

But earlier this month, the company was forced to announce that it would wind down its operations, due to PACGOR\u2019s refusal to renew its license under orders from the new president.<\/p>\n

Duterte Death Squads<\/h2>\n

Rodrigo Duterte swept to power in June with the promise of being tough on crime, and that meant zero tolerance of online gambling. To Duterte, being tough on crime also means supporting vigilante death squads that carry out the extra-judicial killings of criminals and habitual drug users on his behalf.<\/p>\n

\n

As mayor of Davao City, he declared criminals to be \u201clegitimate targets of assassination,\u201d and once offered a reward to anyone who could \u201cbring him the head\u201d of a local gang leader. It\u2019s an attitude that prompted TIME Magazine<\/em> to give him the nickname \u201cThe Punisher,\u201d after Marvel Comics\u2019 violent crime-fighting antihero.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But on his rise to power, Duterte also declared war on the \u201coligarchs,\u201d whom he believed were \u201cembedded in government\u201d where they practice \u201cinfluence peddling.\u201d And Ongpin was a name Duterte specifically singled out in that regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am fighting a monster,\u201d he declared. \u201cI am just two months [into the presidency], but believe me, I will destroy their clutches in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ongpin\u2019s Last Stand<\/h2>\n

Earlier this week, a desperate Ongpin wrote to PAGCOR offering to transfer ownership of the company, on the condition that its gambling license could be renewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am of course assuming that if PAGCOR would own 49 per cent of PhilWeb, it would renew the license to itself and, thus, save the jobs and livelihoods of about 6,000 employees and their families,\u201d wrote Ongpin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn closing, I wish to state that, despite my deep personal financial pain, I bear no rancor against PAGCOR nor the President,\u201d the billionaire added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my frequent travels overseas for my business activities, I am inevitably asked about my opinion of the new government and, without exception, I always say that I am optimistic about the performance of the new government in the Philippines, not only in economic terms but also with regard to the elimination of the pernicious drug menace and corruption in government.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWithout reservation, I pledge to continue to do so,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a little bit hard sell, and no word yet on whether PAGCOR or Duterte are buying it, literally or figuratively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Filipino billionaire Roberto Ongpin\u2019s last-ditch attempt to save his gaming company Philweb from the wrath of the country’s President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s anti-online gambling crusade may have hit a dead end. But Ongpin is trying every tactic in his arsenal to save the company from total collapse. Ongpin said on Friday that he would put his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":38671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPAGCOR Rejects Ownership of Philweb in Philippines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PAGCOR refuses to acknowledge the Philweb position, and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte remains hell-bent on its destruction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PAGCOR Rejects Ownership of Philweb in Philippines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PAGCOR refuses to acknowledge the Philweb position, and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte remains hell-bent on its destruction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-20T21:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-19T20:33:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rodrigo-Duterte-Roberto-Ongpin-PhilWeb-PAGCOR.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"633\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/\",\"name\":\"PAGCOR Rejects Ownership of Philweb in Philippines\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rodrigo-Duterte-Roberto-Ongpin-PhilWeb-PAGCOR.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-20T21:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-19T20:33:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"PAGCOR refuses to acknowledge the Philweb position, and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte remains hell-bent on its destruction.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-rejects-ownership-of-philweb-in-philippines\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rodrigo-Duterte-Roberto-Ongpin-PhilWeb-PAGCOR.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Rodrigo-Duterte-Roberto-Ongpin-PhilWeb-PAGCOR.jpg\",\"width\":950,\"height\":633,\"caption\":\"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) has so far been unbending in working with PhilWeb President Roberto Ongpin (right), who says he now just wants to save his employees' jobs at any cost. 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