The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) recorded lower total revenue in 2025 after weaker results from its land-based casino operations and the removal of offshore gaming from its income base. The state-run regulator reported full-year revenue of PHP106.03 billion, marking a 5.1 percent decline from the PHP111.72 billion posted in 2024. Despite the drop in top-line performance, PAGCOR still delivered higher net income for the year, supported by continued growth in electronic and online gaming activities.

Gaming operations generated PHP95.15 billion in 2025, slightly below the previous year’s PHP97.53 billion. Additional income streams such as interest earnings, service fees, and other income provided PHP10.88 billion, helping stabilize overall results. The absence of offshore gaming revenue, following the end of licensed Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in December 2024, also weighed on the annual comparison. That segment had contributed close to PHP3.0 billion in 2024 and no longer formed part of the regulator’s revenue mix last year.

Land-Based Casino Performance Continues to Ease

Land-based casinos remained the main source of pressure on PAGCOR’s 2025 performance. Revenue from PAGCOR-operated casinos declined by 18.1 percent year-on-year to PHP10.38 billion. Licensed casinos also delivered lower earnings, with contributions falling 4.9 percent to PHP31.44 billion. Together, these results reflected softer demand in physical gaming venues compared with prior years.

PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alejandro H. Tengco attributed the downturn to changing customer habits. “The decline in revenues from land-based casinos is largely driven by the gradual change in player behavior, with more customers opting for digital and online gaming platforms,” Tengco said. “This shift underscores the need for regulators to keep pace with how players engage with online gaming products.”

The regulator noted that the year-on-year decline in total gaming revenue was influenced both by weaker land-based results and by the removal of offshore gaming earnings, which had previously supplemented casino income.

Online and Electronic Gaming Offset Part of the Decline

While traditional casino revenues softened, electronic and online gaming continued to expand. More than half of PAGCOR’s gaming revenue in 2025 came from eGames, eBingo, and bingo grantees, totaling PHP53.33 billion. This represented a 9.3 percent increase from the prior year and provided a partial counterbalance to the contraction seen in land-based operations.

PAGCOR stated that the growth of digital gaming activities helped “offset part of the decline in land-based gaming… providing stability to overall gaming revenues.” The regulator also acknowledged that player participation in online platforms faced some headwinds during the year. In late October, PAGCOR reported a “sharp decline” in income since August, which it linked to the delinking of online gambling platforms from e-wallet services and a modest slowdown in new player registrations.

In response to the expansion of online gaming, Tengco said PAGCOR strengthened oversight of the sector. “As digital gaming continues to grow, PAGCOR has implemented significant regulatory upgrades to protect players, promote transparency and ensure that online gaming operates within a secure and well-regulated environment,” he said. PAGCOR plans to submit a position paper outlining its regulatory efforts and urging the central bank to allow e-wallet providers to reconnect directly with licensed eGames platforms, a move seen as providing clearer guidance to players on approved sites.

Net Income Rises and Public Contributions Remain Substantial

Despite lower overall revenue, PAGCOR reported net income of PHP17.47 billion in 2025, an increase of about 4.2 percent from PHP16.77 billion in 2024. The agency’s total contributions to nation-building reached PHP66.95 billion, slightly below the PHP68.21 billion recorded a year earlier.

Of this amount, PHP45.19 billion went to the National Treasury as the government’s 50 percent share, including PAGCOR’s annual PHP60 million contribution to the Dangerous Drugs Board. The regulator also remitted PHP4.76 billion in franchise taxes and PHP907 million in corporate income taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Other allocations included PHP2.26 billion for the Philippine Sports Commission and PHP95.08 million in cash incentives for athletes and coaches who achieved success in international competitions.

In a December speech, Tengco said there were “tremendous opportunities to strengthen regulatory frameworks and to create a market that is grounded in integrity, innovation, and long-term sustainability”. Discussions in the Philippine Senate during 2025 also examined tighter controls on online gambling, including proposed legislation that would impose a total ban.