Leisure & Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) will no longer actively pursue a planned $550 million integrated resort project on Boracay Island in the Philippines. According to the Manila Standard, Acting Chairman Eusebio Tanco said the firm’s prospective partnership with Galaxy Entertainment is over too, but he will “keep that piece of land and will just hold on to it. I will just land-bank it.”
Later, responding to a request for clarification from the Philippine Stock Exchange, LRWC seemed to suggest instead that discussions with Galaxy had merely been placed on hold. “The quoted comment made by our chairman … is only referring to the fact that due to the moratorium imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte, there is no further discussions on the Boracay project with Galaxy Entertainment Group,” the company said. “We remain committed to abide by the instructions of our president and will defer to his mandate on the matter. However, no plans have been made for the development of the land in Boracay as well.”
Galaxy Entertainment Group Vice Chairman Francis Lui told Inside Asian Gaming earlier this year that he still hoped to move forward with the Boracay project, saying, “We are still wanting the people there to understand there’s a misconception. I’m sure that once the truth is being told and understood about how our project would not be a big project, then people will come to know that this is the type of project that is needed to invigorate the brand Boracay used to have.
“It’s always been one of the top five beach islands of the world and we truly want to be part of it and make sure we would be able to elevate it back to the same position as before.”
In March 2018, Galaxy won a provisional license to build the IR on the holiday island, known for its white-sand beaches. Later, President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would close the destination to tourism due to concerns about the environment. Uncontrolled development had turned Boracay into a “cesspool,” he fumed, and pointed to a casino that reportedly pumped untreated sewage into the ocean.
LRWC originally promised a resort that would “redefine the standards of luxury resorts in the country,” the Standard reported, with the bulk of the gross floor area allocated to premium hotel rooms and other amenities, like wellness centers, bars, lounges and fine dining restaurants. The casino and gaming area’s maximum footprint, according to the conceptual design, would not have exceeded 7.5 percent of the total floor area. Construction was supposed to start in 2020, with completion scheduled after two years.
LRWC is a holding company that owns bingo parlors across the Philippines and has a license agreement with the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority to develop, operate and conduct internet and gaming enterprises and facilities in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Freeport. It is also engaged in the hotel and recreation business.
Alfredo Lim, president and COO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), the state-run gaming regulator, hinted to GGRAsia that the door is not completely closed to a casino development on the island. If Galaxy Entertainment “can come up with certain measures that will convince the president,” he said, “maybe there will be reconsiderations of the regional suspension of the license” in Boracay.
