Giorgidi Aggabao, a legislator from the Philippines, has proposed a bill that could limit the powers of the country’s gaming authority. Aggabao wants to remove the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp’s rights to license casinos in the country, saying that the 2007 Republic Act 9487 delegates “more powers to Pagcor compared to its original mandate – that of operating and maintaining casinos.” The act was amended in 2007 to give the casino regulator the authority to license casinos and other gaming venues.

Aggabao accused the gaming authority of lack of transparency in the licensing procedure, and said that, with the additional mandate offered to the group, “Pagcor encroached with Congressional mandate as provided by the 1987 Constitution.”

The legislator’s newly proposed bill seeks to rectify the situation and therefore requests that Pagcor’s authority to license casinos and other gaming establishments be revoked. The bill will allow Pagcor to continue to operate and maintain casinos in the country, although a license will need to be obtained via Congress.

This is the not the first bill filed in Congress hoping to see Pagcor’s powers amended. At least two other bills were filed by legislators in the Philippines House of Representatives. In 2012, a similar bill was approved in the lower chamber but did not reach the Senate.

Pagcor’s vision is to make the Philippines the top gaming and entertainment destination in the ASEAN region by 2020, generating revenues that fund national building programs and creating an environment that propels the development of the country’s gaming and entertainment industry.