Cagayan chief moves to reassure licensees

The recent outbursts against online gambling by Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte (see previous  reports) have done much to engender a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty among online operators licensed in the region, including those regulated through the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

That, together with potential competition from the new POGO licenses being issued by Pagcor, may to some extent explain correspondence this week which operators started receiving from CEZA president Francis Hernando, emphasising the effort and expense which the Authority is investing in creating improved licensee facilities and services.

Apparently $4 million is going into improvements of the Authority’s data centre in the Freeport at Cagayan, whilst another $3 million has been earmarked for an upgrade to data infrastructure located outside the Freeport.

Hernando says the improvements will particularly benefit telecommunications and data services and bring them to a similar level as other international online gambling jurisdictions, and reveals that negotiations are also in progress with other parties in a bid to provide a more stable source of electricity for the Freeport.

Licensees will be consulted as the plans take shape, Hernando said, urging operators to stay with the CEZA ship whilst the improvements take place this year to the benefit of all involved.

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