Casino gambling was legalized in Japan last month, although the first one is unlikely to open its doors until the middle of the next decade. Elsewhere in Asia, the future of casino gambling was pushed to the front of the news in the Philippines this week.
More than five years ago the Solaire Casino became Manila’s first “integrated resort” — a billion dollar project with a high-end hotel, fine dining, and serious gambling. Other casinos followed, as developers scrambled to cash in on foreign tourists coming to the Philippines to legally gamble.
Earlier this week, a 1.5 billion dollar casino project started construction in Manila — provoking an unusual reaction.
Within minutes of the ground breaking ceremony, a spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said the company’slicense would be cancelled, because the lease agreement was not on favorable terms. In addition, Duterte said in a public speech, quote, “I hate gambling. I do not want it. There will be no casinos outside of what are existing.”
That license had been approved just last month by the government-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. It was granted to Landing Resorts — a Hong Kong listed company whose majority shareholder is a Chinese billionaire.
This week, Dutertefired the entire board of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. Landing Resorts says it has a legal contract, and still plans to build the casino.
This led to an editorial in the Philippine Star headlined: “Need for Clarity.”
Suggesting presidential overreach, the paper wrote that “While the president is against casinos, the country’s laws allow their operation.”
