Cebu City mayor: It’s the jobs
Landing International Development Ltd. is reportedly proceeding with plans to build a US$1.5 billion integrated resort in Manila, in direct defiance of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has declared that no new casinos will be developed in the Philippines casinos while he is in office.
But Landing has more pressing problems. It appears that its chairman, Dr. Yang Zhihui was detained in Cambodia and sent back to China in connection with a corruption probe. Yang owns a majority of the shares in Landing and reportedly is under investigation for his connections to China’s state-owned Huarong International Financial Holdings Ltd, whose former CEO is being investigated in a corruption probe.
Landing insists that it’s business as usual under the leadership of CEO Jay Lee and CFO David Hoon.
A planned Cebu City integrated resort with gaming also is poised to move ahead despite the ban. According to Inside Asian Gaming, a Cebu City government official said the proposed PHP18 billion (US$356 million) IR would proceed with its groundbreaking ceremony on August 25.
A Philippine Star report on the Landing project said “bulldozers, backhoes, graders, cement mixers and dump trucks” are already at work at the development site. “About 50 workmen, some uniformed, were busy with tools,” the publication reported, while “a concrete batching plant ran full-blast onsite.” The land is located between Solaire Resort & Casino and Okada Manila in Entertainment City.
News of activity at the site came less than two weeks after the entire board of Landing’s Philippine partner, Nayon Pilipino Foundation, was fired by Duterte for what he called a “grossly disadvantageous” land lease deal that reportedly would cost the government PHP517 million (US$9.65 million) per year over 50 years. The mass termination took place the same day Landing broke ground on NayonLanding. The company later stated that the it is “still pushing through and its lease contract with NPF is still valid and effective.”
“From the group’s view point, the recent decision of the Philippine government to replace members of the NPF board of trustees did not affect the validity of the subject contract of lease,” Landing said. “Unless the lease contract is cancelled or nullified on solid legal grounds by the courts, Landing has reason to believe that it is a valid leaseholder and can legally proceed with its project.”
Despite the president’s stance, Landing told Inside Asian Gaming that it “still maintains the target to open the project in 2022.”
In Cebu City, meanwhile, Francisco Fernandez, executive assistant to the mayor, said that an integrated resort will be built on Kawit Island by Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. and JG Summit Holdings. Plans include a casino, a 1,000-room hotel, a convention center, restaurants and more.
“They’re in a hurry to do it,” said Fernandez. “They already want to start construction and they’re going to apply for a permit and such.”
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña told the Star that the PHP18 billion (US$336 million) investment would help generate around 5,000 jobs. When the project was first announced in November 2017, a local council measure said Universal Hotels “intends to contribute in making Cebu City the newest tourism destination in the country by developing and operating a PAGCOR-accredited and world-class integrated resort and casino facility.”
Despite Duterte’s hard line against new casinos, World Casino Directory listed a number of casinos that have been proposed or are about to open. In addition to the NayonLanding and Cebu City developments, the list of proposed casinos includes a Galaxy Entertainment Group casino planned for the island of Boracay and Udenna Corp.’s Mactan Leisure City in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. Those set to open soon include Solaire in Quezon City; Westside City in Parañaque City; and Filinvest Mimosa + Leisure City in Clark, Pampanga.
