The government of Quezon City in Manila, Philippines has revealed that it plans to create a gaming ordinance designed to discourage locals from playing at the planned Solaire-branded casino, now in the works by Bloomberry Resorts. But gaming regulators say that in doing so, officials would be overstepping their authority.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. says the Quezon City government can’t regulate anything, and if it doesn’t want a casino, it can pull the plug on the project now.
Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte recently said the local government will establish an ordinance regulating games of chance; part of the ordinance would be a high entry fee to keep locals from entering the Solaire, planned for a 1.57-hectare(4-acre) plot in Quezon’s Ayala Vertis North complex.
PAGCOR said it “maintains its position that local government units do not have the authority to regulate games of chance even in their localities. Instead, this function is a mandate of PAGCOR by virtue of its charter.
“The provisions in the law are clear,” the statement continued. “PAGCOR is vested the authority to ensure that proper regulations are in place so as not to endanger the interests of the country. If the local government of Quezon City abhors gambling—so as to create measures that are beyond its powers—it should not have issued Bloomberry Resorts Corp. a Letter of No Objection and Resolution of No Objection when the latter was completing documentary requirements for the application of a provisional license.”
PAGCOR pointed to studies that say entry fees have not proved a deterrent to problem gamblers, but do result in much lower gaming revenues. The regulator concluded by saying that if Quezon doesn’t want a casino, it can refuse to issue a business permit to Solaire.
Bloomberry, which also operates a Solaire-branded resort in Manila’s Entertainment City, said last year it will begin construction of the new integrated resort by summer with the goal of opening it in 2022.
In February Bloomberry obtained a PH40 billion (US$767 million) loan to finance the project, which would primarily target the mass market.
Belmonte told the Philippine Inquirer, “I understand the benefits. It was presented to me by Solaire that there will be these many jobs. There will be a hotel. The casino will be very small. I understand the benefits economically. We talked with some councilors and we came up with gambling regulatory ordinance in Quezon City.”
According to Inside Asian Gaming, she continued by saying the local Catholic Church has not actively objected, though it doesn’t want parishioners working in a casino.
The Quezon City project got the go-ahead before a 2018 moratorium on new casinos by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Belmonte said she is looking for clarity on the matter. “The courts can decide whether it’s the PAGCOR charter or the local government code that has precedence,” she said.
