Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR said on Thursday it would not bear the cost of renovations at its self-operated casinos, saying "false information from certain quarters" had left employee morale unduly low.

Prior to the regulator's statement, an employee posted on social media that PAGCOR was spending P500 million of its own funds to renovate its Casino Filipino store in Angeles City.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said: "These accusations are absolutely untrue as the renovation work will be entirely borne by the lessor. PAGCOR will not spend a penny on the renovation."

The employee said in the post that the renovation plan is intended to make the store attractive to potential buyers after it is privatized.

Tengco responded that the renovation of the Los Angeles branch is part of PAGCOR’s commitment to provide better facilities and services to attract more customers and ensure the profitability of its operations.

"We do not own the property where Casino Filipino Angeles is located," he said. "That's why we made an agreement with the lessor to bear the renovation costs because they are the owners and PAGCOR is only the lessee."

"This is the same arrangement as our Casino Filipino in Bacolod, making the casino more attractive to customers and benefiting the owners of PAGCOR as well as the government."

As reported earlier, the privatization of PAGCOR casinos is expected to begin as early as the last quarter of 2025, which PAGCOR said would give the agency enough time to make arrangements for those affected.

Tengco also refuted the group's claim that privatization would result in a total of 10,000 employees losing their jobs.

"This number is very misleading because 10,000 employees is our total workforce," he said. "We are not disbanding PAGCOR. We are simply divesting the casino business, but many employees will remain in regulatory, enforcement, surveillance and electronic gaming Licensing and other departments."

"I therefore appeal to our employees not to believe the lies spread by some disgruntled individuals. We will look after welfare but need to do our jobs."