Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR has issued an initial 40 licenses under its newly named Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) scheme according to a list made public late last week. There are also nine provisional IGLs, previously known as POGOs.
The revised list of IGLs comes after PAGCOR last year placed all POGO licensees on a probationary stance and required them to reapply for licenses as part of a new regulatory framework developed in response to multiple instances of criminal activity detected within the industry.
Inside Asian Gaming was the first to reveal the rebranding of POGOs to IGLs, with PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H Tengco revealing during an interview in October that the agency planned to issue between 55 and 60 licenses. He added that there will “no longer be service provider licenses, it will just be an IGL license.”
According to recently released PAGCOR figures, offshore gaming operators brought in Php3.15 billion (US$54.3 million) in revenues for the regulator in 2023.