Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp is the country’s casino regulator and it says the move is part of recent organizational changes.

Pagcor had already mentioned in June it had created a “Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department – Integrated Resorts”, known for short as “CMED-IR”. This was responsible for all licensed casinos in Entertainment City, the Clark group of casinos and Thunderbird casinos, the regulator said at the time.

It was referring respectively to large scale casino resorts in the Entertainment City in Metro Manila; the casino complexes at Clark, a former air force base on the main island Luzon; and a chain of properties across the Philippines, under the branding Thunderbird Resorts and Casinos.

In its latest emailed update, the Philippine gaming regulator said that the compliance work – ensuring Pagcor’s gaming licensees adhere to its set rules and regulations – had now been divided into two branches, the second covering online.

“CMED was divided into two – CMED-Integrated Resorts (IR) and CMED-Internet Gaming (IG)”.

“CMED-IR is focused on licensed casino operators’ compliance to set regulations, while CMED-IG covers all other Pagcor-licensed gaming operations including E-Sabong,” Pagcor stated.

E-Sabong refers to online/remote or off-site wagering/betting on live cockfighting matches, events, and/or activities streamed or broadcast live from a government-authorized cockpit arena, according to Pagcor’s regulatory definition.

As part of its efforts regarding oversight of the gaming sector as a whole, Pagcor also issued last month updated casino regulatory manual forms for adoption by licensed casino operators.

Editing by Rachel Hu