Alejandro Tengco, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), says the casino industry in Metro Manila will be at capacity once two planned integrated resorts (IRs) are complete in the vicinity.
But, he added, there could be room for more IRs in other parts of the country.
Speaking to Asia Gaming Brief, Tengco acknowledged that land-based operations “have not only plateaued but dipped a little,” and record-breaking first-quarter revenues are expected to be down.
However, Manila has “room for one more” in Westside City, a project of the LET Group, formerly the Macau junket Suncity. Now in development near Solaire Resort & Casino, Westside City is expected to begin operations in early 2025.
Another billion-dollar IR, originally to have opened in the Las Piñas-Parañaque area by 2023, was originally called Gold Coast Entertainment City. It’s a project of the Villar Group, owned by former presidential candidate Manuel B. Villar, Jr., one of the country’s richest men. Tengco said that IR, near Ninoy Aquino International Airport, “was given a license prior to my appointment.”
Once they are complete, said Tengco, “that should be enough for now.” But opportunities remain outside Metro Manila, with Clark having “good potential” and Subic Bay possibly attracting “a big investor.”
In the south, the troubled Emerald Bay development in Cebu still hopes for an investment-minded savior, and Tengco also said Davao City could host an IR. “Then, with the privatization of our Casino Filipino properties, that will add now another close to 40 properties—city casinos, municipal or provincial casinos that cater to the local market.”
PAGCOR has long planned to divest itself of the Casino Filipino properties, prompted by critics who say a regulator should not also act as an owner-operator. Tengco has said the regulator may offer the right of first refusal to current operators of its Casino Filipino properties.
“To prevent that ‘headache,’ I think that you go for right of first refusal, because they know, they’re operating, they know what the frameworks are, they have followed it, I don’t see them not following because now they own it 100 percent,” he told Asia Gaming Brief.
