Prospective buyers of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor)-controlled Casino Filipino venues are likely to resist any requirement to retain existing staff. Such obligations might potentially reduce bid values, according to a legal analysis published by Philippine law firm Geronimo Law.
The paper examines the employment implications of Pagcor’s proposed disposal of around 40 Casino Filipino branches and satellite venues through an asset sale.
A proposal for the country’s gaming regulator to shed the gaming-operator role and privatise its Casino Filipino chain of venues is currently under review by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG), the government body overseeing state-owned entities.
Pagcor chairman and chief executive, Alejandro Tengco, has previously said the regulator hopes to complete the privatisation process by the end of this year, subject to approval from the GCG and, ultimately, from the Philippine president.
The legal paper notes that, because the planned transaction is structured as an asset sale rather than a share sale, buyers would not be legally obliged to absorb Pagcor employees working at Casino Filipino venues.
Instead, employment would generally be terminated by the selling entity, with any claims resting against Pagcor rather than the purchaser, Geronimo Law noted.
“Trained gaming personnel are scarce, so buyers will want the dealers, surveillance officers, and slot technicians,” the paper stated. “Still, appetite to absorb will be highly selective. Expect bidders to resist an absorption mandate.”
The law firm added: “If a mandate survives into the bid terms, expect it to be priced into lower offers and satisfied through engagement of the most marketable job classes.”
The paper – first reported by the Manila Bulletin newspaper – outlined three possible workforce outcomes: redeployment within Pagcor; employment by the buyer; or separation accompanied by retirement and separation benefits.
Geronimo Law also said that winning bidders would reportedly be required to absorb a portion of affected employees, but says such an obligation would only arise “through the bidding terms and asset purchase agreement” rather than existing labour law.
Employees transferred to a private operator would begin a new employment relationship, meaning their length of service would not automatically carry over unless specifically provided for in the transaction documents, according to the analysis.
Workers not absorbed and unable to be redeployed would instead be “separated by Pagcor, and the buyer bears no liability for them,” it added.
The paper added that Pagcor personnel are civil servants, meaning any workforce reduction would be governed by civil service rules applicable to government reorganisations.
