Landing International Development’s plans to build a new casino resort in Entertainment City seem less likely by the minute. In July, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. awarded a license to Landing and its local partner, the Nayon Pilipino Foundation, to build a Filipino-themed resort there. Weeks later, Duterte fired the entire NPF board just as the team was breaking ground on the proposed $1.5 billion NayonLanding site in Parañaque. The reason: what President Rodrigo Duterte called a “grossly disadvantageous” land lease deal that reportedly would cost the government PHP517 million (US$9.65 million) per year over 50 years. Landing later stated that it is “still pushing through and its lease contract with NPF is still valid and effective.”
But other operators in Entertainment City have joined the government in its call for a suspension of growth in the industry. Willy Ocier, vice chairman of City of Dreams Manila partner Belle Corp., is urging PAGCOR to limit the number of casinos in the Entertainment City precinct to the original four: COD, a Melco Resorts project; Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino; Universal Entertainment’s Okada Manila; and Westside City Resorts World, being developed by Travellers International Hotel Group, a joint venture between Genting Hong Kong and Alliance Global Group. The resort is scheduled to open in 2020.
Ocier told the Business Mirror that PAGCOR “will still need to assess the market only after Okada and Resorts World have completed their projects and operate at full ramp-up. That will take at least six more years from now.”
And Inside Asian Gaming reports that Enrique Razon’s Bloomberry is also lobbying against the Landing development.
Landing shares fell almost 50 percent in the final week of August when majority shareholder Yang Zhihui was detained by Cambodian authorities due to previous business dealings with China’s state-owned Huarong International Financial Holdings Ltd., whose former head is being investigated in a graft probe. IAG reported that Yang was returned to China following his detention.
Landing, which reported strong results for the month of August at its Korean IR, Jeju Shinhwa World, is under scrutiny by the regulator there. An official informed GGRAsia that the body is “monitoring” the situation as questions remain about Yang, but had “no special actions planned” at the moment.
Meanwhile, Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group remains confident that it will develop an integrated resort on the Philippine island of Boracay, in spite of Duterte’s ban on further casino development in the country.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Galaxy Chairman Lui Che Woo said the US$500 million integrated resort, planned in partnership with local partner Leisure and Resorts World Corp., is still in the pipeline.
“We are very confident,” Lui said. “From the beginning until now, our plans have not changed.” Earlier this year, Duterte “closed” Boracay for a six-month environmental cleanup. At the time, he said the island would remain an agricultural site, with no casinos. In addition, the Department of Justice has recommended the cancellation of the partners’ lease contract. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque quoted Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who said that the lease contract between NPF and Landing was “void from the start.”
“According to the Secretary of Justice, the contract of Landing with Nayong Pilipino is a build-operate-transfer contract disguised as a lease contract. Because it is a BOT project, it should have complied with the BOT law including public bidding,” said Roque in a news conference. “This, of course, rebuts the public advertisement paid for by former officials of the Nayong Pilipino. Again, I reiterate, the DOJ has joined the President in concluding the contract is void ab initio.”
Lui seems unfazed, according to CDC Gaming Reports. “When Galaxy negotiated with the Philippines government, our plans were to turn Boracay into an internationally acclaimed island,” he said. “First, it will be low-density and second, we want to restore the beautiful natural scenery to how it was before.
“Our plans are for a low-density environment, like in the Maldives, instead of a big casino floor like in Manila or other places that are dense or busy. We want to lure high-end customers to come and enjoy and to help the Philippines lift its status.” He agreed with Duterte that the holiday island “is no longer the top-tier natural scenic place it once was due to pollution and sub-standard facilities.”
He added that gaming will “be a small portion” of the project, “just a few dozen tables.”
“We hope it’ll become a truly good tourism spot and return it to the beautiful island it once was,” Lui said. “This is very different to what is being said out there. We’re waiting for the final decision from the government as to how it wants to develop Boracay. We will follow their directive to achieve their goal.”
