Rubén Solórzano, director of PGS, Yuri Guerra, current General Director of Casino and Slot Machines of Peru, Fernando Calderón, president of Sonaja, Karen Sierra, vice president of LATAM and Spain of GLI and Gonzalo Pérez, CEO of Total Bet, were part of the deep-felt ceremony.

Rubén Solórzano, the Director of PGS, was the first to speak and explained the following: “We are going to pay tribute to an extraordinary person. The engineer Manuel San Román Benavente, who on March 3, left us and departed without return. A man who in 2006 assumed the general management of casinos and slot machines and from that moment on he did everything possible, every effort to make this sector formalized, legalized, to contribute to this economic idea, not only from that sector, but from the whole activity.”

And he added “He fought for that goal and was able to complete it. In-person games were formalized in Peru and were taken as an example for other latitudes, for other jurisdictions, for other countries. And the engineer Manuel San Román became, as many said at international events, the master of the gaming industry.”

Then it was the turn of Yuri Guerra who highlighted the close relationship he had with San Román, commenting that “this is a very pleasant moment for me, as I have worked for practically 16 years with the engineer San Román, with whom I have shared beautiful anecdotes, and More than my boss, he was my friend, my partner and almost a father. With whom I shared quite complex and complicated moments, sometimes we behaved like children, we fought and after a week we became friends. With the one who managed, in me, personally, to cultivate what I am today. Before, he was just like the traditional engineer who sat in a chair and dedicated himself solely to doing his job.”

He also recalled “With him we forged ourselves, we learned and I think he taught us all that in this activity you can work within formality. He taught us to go hand in hand between the regulator and the private company. To the one who opened the doors and wanted to know each of the problems to establish alternative solutions. I thank him for allowing me to participate in each and every event he attended. And I recognize in him the person who gave me the confidence to stand here today and taught me to love this activity.”

And excitedly he closed by saying “I just want you to know that he is, will be and will continue to be a great man, a guide, a teacher, a mentor and will continue to be our regulator forever. Then it was Fernando Calderón's turn to speak, president of Sonaja, who highlighted “this activity is what it is today thanks to the engineer Manuel San Román. And to the team that he led, but thanks to him who took that leadership, he made that decision within his power to fight for organization and order in casino games and slot machines. Because really when here in the country it was operated in different ways, he managed to get it organized. And that order and that growth is thanks to him.”

And he added, “Recently there was the GAT in Cartagena and I was proud that the associations in Colombia, although they were not planning a tribute, gave him words of recognition and all the learning that the region had in all the interventions that he has had. in this years."

Then Karen Sierra took the floor and very excitedly highlighted “He was a teacher who was able to accompany us to Spain. The changes at the regulatory level that were made in the last 16 years had a lot to do with the imprint left by those interactions only twice a year. We would have loved to be able to enjoy it more outside, take it more, for you to share it with us more, but it was enough to leave that mark. He was the master, all the regulators called him that and he was respected, loved, and rest assured that he will not be forgotten."

Finally, Gonzalo Pérez, CEO of Apuesta Total, said: “I joined this industry in 2018, so I had relatively little time to know Manuel in the role of regulator. We had some meetings with the association, with the company, and we always found the open door policy, which was not only something he paid lip service to, but he actually enjoyed it. And that is something that I think has marked the path of what the current administration is and that I think is the envy of other countries, of the bond that both the private and the State can have. Then Manuel went on to work with us and I had the opportunity to get to know him personally. And he was such an incredible guy that with all the experience he had, with all the awards he had, he called me and told me that he had been invited to a conference, but that I was his boss and he needed to ask my permission. It had these kinds of details that painted it in its entirety. We will always have him in our hearts."