“How will the Philippine Amusement and Games Corporation’s counterpart funds for universal health care be covered with its imminent decoupling?”
This was the question raised by Solid North Partylist Rep. Ching Bernos after PAGCOR Pres. Alejandro Tengco announced earlier this month that they expect the Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations to recommend the agency’s multibillion-peso decoupling to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. within a month.
By shedding its casino operations, PAGCOR aims to reduce its heavy payroll burden, as well as focus more closely on regulation.
Pagcor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alejandro H. Tengco told reporters on Tuesday, Sept. 15, that the Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG) should transmit the decoupling recommendation to the President in a month’s time, marking a milestone in the long-awaited initiative.
A legal study released by law firm Geronimo Law in July estimated that Casino Filipino’s privatization could reduce annual UHC funding by between P1.7 billion to P2.1 billion.
Bernos said that while she understands the PAGCOR’s shift to a regulation-focused body, there remains a need for clarity about how the decoupling would truly affect UHC funding.
“Kailangang pag-usapan natin kung paano ba magagampanan ng PAGCOR ang responsibilidad nito sa ilalim ng Republic Act 11223 o ang Universal Health Care Law. We are talking here of billions of pesos in funding that the Filipino people rely on, and they deserve some clarity regarding this very important issue,” the member of the House committee on games and amusements said.
The lawmaker said that government should take great effort to ease the public’s fears that the landmark health program would be crippled by PAGCOR’s transition.
The UHC law mandates that fifty percent of the national government’s share from PAGCOR’s income be used as one of the fund sources for the UHC program.
A legal study released by law firm Geronimo Law in July estimated that Casino Filipino’s privatization could reduce annual UHC funding by between P1.7 billion to P2.1 billion.
The law firm also estimated that Casino Filipino operations contributed about P3.02 billion to UHC in 2024, and P2.47 billion in 2025.
