State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. on Thursday rejected businessman Roberto Ongpin’s donation of a 49-percent stake in PhilWeb Corp. worth billions of pesos.
“The issue is not RVO [Roberto V. Ongpin] or PhilWeb per se. It is the president’s and his government’s opposition to online and onsite gaming because of the social ills and decay they foist on our communities as they cater to the more economically vulnerable portion of our population,” Pagcor chairman Andrea Domingo said in a statement.
Domingo’s response came a day after Ongpin offered to donate 49 percent of his entire 53.76-percent stake in PhilWeb to Pagcor, exhausting all means to save the firm from winding down operations.
“The campaign to correct or stop previous gaming policies that bring about such pernicious social conditions just had to start with PhilWeb, simply because its license had expired,” Domingo said.
Domingo said aside from PhilWeb, Pagcor would deal with similar cases with other parties, although she did not name them.
Ongpin said in a letter addressed to Domingo that while he received five bids for his 53.76-percent stake in Philweb, he would not award the shares to any bidder, after Pagcor stated that PhilWeb’s gaming license would not be renewed under any circumstances.
Ongpin said he would donate, or sell for P1 to Pagcor, his 49-percent stake in PhilWeb and the balance of 4.7 percent to Ateneo de Manila JVO Scholarship Fund, which was named after his late brother Jaime.
“Why 49 percent? This is to simply avoid PhilWeb being classified as a government-owned and controlled corporation, which would make the various restrictions applicable to GOCC’s result in making PhilWeb’s operation untenable,” Ongpin said.
Ongpin, who earlier said he was ‘struck by lightning’ when President Rodrigo Duterte named him an oligarch that his administration wanted to destroy, said there was no reason why Pagcor would be prevented from being the largest shareholder in PhilWeb.
He said under its charter, the state-owned gaming firm was both a regulator and operator of casinos.
“I also wish to point out that this donation comes with no strings attached. Thus, Pagcor can decide whether to retain it as a permanent investment or auction all or part of it off to the highest bidder,” Ongpin said.
Ongpin said with this move, he was hoping that Pagcor would renew the license of PhilWeb and in the process save the jobs of about 6,000 employees.
“This has not been an easy decision for me to make, but I can only face reality,” Ongin said.
“I hope and pray that Pagcor will seriously consider the offer contained in this letter. My only objective and consolation is that if Pagcor agrees to accept this donation, I would have saved the jobs and livelihood of some 6,000 people, including PhilWeb employees,” Ongpin said.
PhilWeb’s stock climbed 35.4 percent to close P8.80 Thursday, before Pagcor made the announcement. Ongpin’s share in the company is valued at more than P5 billion.