Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Tuesday the privatization of the multi-billion-peso, state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) would be a potent weapon to attract tourism in the country.

‘’I am in favor (of privatizing Pagcor) but they have to separate the regulatory function because that is government and the operation must be privatized,’’ he said.

‘’It will be more manageable if the government is not involved in the winning and losing in the business. It regulates, it gets its taxes, and gets its share of the income of the operation. I have a draft of this proposal, patterned after the Reno (Nevada) model,’’ he explained.

Sen. Manuel Lapid, chairman of the Senate games, amusement and sports committee, said he favors the privatization of Pagcor ‘’but there should be conditions like a fixed period for the contract.’’

He said that government could terminate or renegotiate with the franchise holder if there is a fixed period for the privatization.

Both senators were reacting to the proposal of businessman Ramon Ang to pool $10 billion among investors in Malaysia to buy Pagcor.

Primary goal of selling a monopoly like the operations of Pagcor is to immediately help the government improve its cash position, Lapid said.

In so far as Enrile is concerned, the Ang proposal should be carefully studied by government.