Businessman Roberto Ongpin on Friday asked state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to use P20 billion worth of his shares in PhilWeb Corp. to build a nationwide network of drug rehabilitation centers.
Ongpin said in a letter to Pagcor chief executive Andrea Domingo the amended proposal was his final attempt to save PhilWeb and more than 6,000 jobs that would be affected by the non-renewal of the company’s gaming license.
“I am a firm believer in the president’s drive against the drug menace. And as he has pointed out, the elimination of drug lords and drug pushers will not succeed unless this is complemented by an effective drug rehabilitation program,” Ongpin said.
“While one could agree that gambling is undesirable, nothing could be more precocious than drug menace which destroys the very fabric of our youth and our society and which admirably, the President has chosen to be his first priority,” Ongpin said.
Ongpin said Pagcor could choose to accept his donated PhilWeb shares and thereafter sell the said shares to raise the money needed to build rehabilitation centers.
Ongpin said while his stake in PhilWeb was now worth between P4 billion and P5 billion after its share price dropped significantly over recent weeks, his 771 million PhilWeb shares could be worth as much as P20 billion under normal circumstances.
He said even before President Rodrigo Duterte named him as one of the country’s oligarchs that his administration wanted to destroy, PhilWeb had already engaged in a serious study of drug rehabilitation centers.
It identified a 2.1-hectare property near Atimonan, Quezon as an ideal site for rehabilitation site, he said.
Ongpin said PhilWeb also appropriated P100 million per year plus up to P3 million per month to maintain and sustain this rehabilitation center.
Ongpin on Wednesday offered to donate 49 percent of shareholdings in PhilWeb to Pagcor and the remaining 4.7 percent to Ateneo de Manila University JVO Scholarship Foundation.
Pagcor, however, rejected Ongpin’s offer citing the President Duterte’s stance against online or on-site electronic gaming.
“This issue is not RVO or PhilWeb per se. It is the President’s and his government’s opposition to on-line and on-site electronic 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 said.
Ongpin said he was hoping that Pagcor would finally accept his amended proposal.
“I hope that I will be forgiven for this one last attempt. It is a sincere attempt and no benefit whatsoever will accrue to me since I have already committed to donate all my shares,” Ongpin said.