Boracay reopens to tourists, no-casinos status remains

The Philippines’ island of Boracay will reopen to tourists today and continue to hold the status of a casino-free location, as announced by the president of the country, Rodrigo Duterte.

As the island is preparing to reopen to tourism, an order from the president has been issued to the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force, calling on the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to cancel all licenses to operate casinos in the Island, several local media sources reported.

According to the Manila Times, citing a briefing held in Malacañan Palace, the Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones confirmed that the task force chairman, environment secretary Roy Cimatu and the two vice chairmen had sent a letter to Pagcor chief, Andrea Domingo, asking the state gaming regulator to void the licenses of all casinos in Boracay.

“The latest update is that there are existing casinos that have already submitted the certification that they will not operate, but we’re still waiting for the [tourism department’s] report [on other casinos],” Leones said, adding, “the stand of the interagency task force to ban casinos is consistent with the pronouncement of the president that there will be no casinos on Boracay Island.”

Last March, Pagcor had granted the provisional license to Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) for a Boracay casino with construction scheduled to take place in 2019.

The integrated casino resort was initially planned to be built on a 23-hectare property in Barangay Manoc-Manoc in cooperation with local partner, Leisure and Resorts World Corp, but is now in an uncertain situation.

Galaxy executives, including GEG Chairman Lui Che Woo, paid a courtesy visit to the president on December 6, four months before the announcement of the closure of the Island for rehabilitation, when Duterte stated that there were no plans to build another casino in Boracay. [See more in Extra] RM