The Philippines’ gaming regulator has extended by one year the deadline for Kazuo Okada to complete construction of his US billion megaresort in Manila’s Entertainment City.
Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment, the local operating unit of Okada’s Tokyo-based machine gaming manufacturer Universal Entertainment, has until the end of 2016 to complete construction. The company had asked for the extension after missing a March 2015 deadline to finish Manila Bay Resorts, as it’s known, one of four Las Vegas-scale gaming complexes licensed to operate at Entertainment City, a special government-backed district designed to boost foreign tourism.
In granting the extension the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has confiscated a $2.2 million guarantee posted by Tiger and is requiring the company put up another $2.14 million as part of new conditions that include improvements to corporate governance and submission of a bank guarantee confirming that it can financially support the project.
PAGCOR Vice President Francis Hernando warned the company that it could face more penalties should there be any further delays.
“It’s a material breach of the provisional license so suspension and revocation is possible,” he said.
