State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has turned over P1.345 billion to the National Treasury on May 28, 2021 as advance cash dividend, bringing its remittance this year to P3 billion.
PAGCOR’s said in a statement Monday the latest cash dividends remittance was in “support of the government’s revenue generation effort to fund the various health and economic measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.”
The gaming firm made its latest remittance only two weeks after it turned over P1.655 billion in cash dividends on May 12, 2020. The amount represented PAGCOR’s entire net earnings in 2020.
Chairman and chief executive Andrea Domingo said PAGCOR was seriously committed to help source more revenues for the government’s COVID-19 response, in spite of huge revenue losses due to the temporary suspension of gaming operations.
“After more than a year into the pandemic, PAGCOR is still doing its best to fulfill our mandate and commitment to nation-building. We may be in a very challenging time, but we are all in this together. Because of PAGCOR’s prudent use of funds and continuous effort to generate revenues, we are able to help fund necessary government programs amidst the crisis,” she said.
Vice president for Finance Group Recto Baltazar Jr. led the turnover of the agency’s latest cash dividends contribution to Deputy Treasurer-Officer-in-Charge Ed Marino at the Bureau of the Treasury office in Intramuros, Manila.
Marino said the agency’s latest cash dividends remittance would further boost the government’s initiatives to survive the pandemic.
“The government really needs all the help it can get to be able to set in motion vital steps that are meant to lessen the sufferings of the people who are greatly affected by the pandemic. We are very thankful that PAGCOR continues to supply the lifeblood that keeps many important government programs up and running,” Marino said.
PAGCOR last year remitted a total of P18 billion in cash dividends to the National Treasury for the year 2019. The agency turned over a total of P16.17 billion in cash dividends in 2018.
The state-run gaming firm has been consistently included in the top three cash dividends contributors among government-owned and controlled corporations.