State gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has allotted P56.2 billion for nation-building initiatives in 2024, higher by Php8 billion compared with the current year as the agency expects to surpass pre-pandemic earning levels.

The 2024 amount includes P12.1 billion for PAGCOR's socio-civic projects including the construction of school buildings, e-learning centers, and community wellness centers as well as its mandatory dividends to the national government.

"We are pleased to say that PAGCOR shall again contribute to nation-building in a major way next year with the gaming industry's complete recovery and return to growth that was halted by the pandemic," said PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco.

Tengco made the remarks after the PAGCOR board approved the agency's 2024 revenue projections during its annual planning conference in Baguio City where the agency said it expects net operating income to hit P61.5 billion in the coming year.

Should it realize its projections, the biggest slice of PAGCOR's contributions for 2024 is the 50 percent government share from its operating income estimated at P37.5 billion followed by the socio-civic component at P12.12 billion.

Another major contribution to the national coffers is the 5 percent franchise tax amounting to P3.95 billion and the share of the Philippine Sports Commission at P1.87 billion. Cities that host casinos will get P451 million while sports incentives and benefits will receive P100 million.

Tengco said PAGCOR will launch new flagship socio-civic projects next January that will prioritize poor and remote communities in the Visayas and Mindanao where new school buildings, e-learning centers, community wellness centers, and socio-civic centers will be built.

"Let us be inspired that we are truly part of nation-building," Tengco told the planning conference attendees. "As government workers, we are duty-bound to serve our country but as Filipinos, we are foremost called to help lay the foundations of a better nation."