{"id":22208,"date":"2021-09-01T13:31:34","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T16:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=22208"},"modified":"2026-04-23T16:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:05:26","slug":"lrwc-seeks-to-re-partner-with-galaxy-for-boracay-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/lrwc-seeks-to-re-partner-with-galaxy-for-boracay-casino","title":{"rendered":"LRWC seeks to re-partner with Galaxy for Boracay casino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With a casino on Boracay looking possible again, LRWC wants to resume its partnership with Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- With Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte changing his mind<\/a>\u00a0about a\u00a0ban on gambling on Boracay<\/strong>, Leisure & Resorts World Corp (LRWC)<\/strong>\u00a0plans to resume talks with Galaxy Entertainment about a possible casino development on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfredo Abelardo Benitez<\/strong>, LRWC director, confirmed to GMA News Online that he plans to revive talks with the Macau casino operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An original project was announced in December 2017, after LRWC bought the parcels of land in Boracay for\u00a0US$500m.<\/strong> However, Duterte then closed the island destination to tourism\u00a0<\/strong>due to concerns for the environment. He said that the increased number of visitors on the island was turning Boracay into a \u201ccesspool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LRWC dropped its plan<\/a>\u00a0for a casino on its 23-hectare property in Boracay leaving Galaxy Entertainment as a sole investor. However, a few weeks ago Duterte said his country needs income to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duterte stated: \u201cWe don\u2019t have money now. Where we can get money, I will get it. If it will be from gambling, so be it<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd<\/strong>\u00a0is cautious about the possibility of Galaxy Entertainment being interested in Boracay now as it faces the expiry of its current Macau gaming rights in June 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts said: \u201cIn light of China\u2019s ongoing crackdown targeting overseas gambling, we do not expect Galaxy Entertainment to pursue any casino developments outside of Macau for the foreseeable future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boracay residents against gambling on the island<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Residents on Boracay\u00a0have come out against the possibility of a casino on the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had already feared that the creation of the\u00a0<\/strong>Boracay Island Development Authority<\/a>\u00a0as a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) could lead casinos on the Philippine island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natividad Bernardino<\/strong>, chairman of the Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group, said: \u201cThe problem of Boracay is one of over-tourism and overdevelopment. What we need in terms of sustaining the rehabilitation and ecological sustainability of the island is a regulatory body instead of a GOCC<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the island has already exceeded its carrying capacity <\/strong>for the environment and population, and that there is no more space for further investment and development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a casino on Boracay looking possible again, LRWC wants to resume its partnership with Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":17538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Philippine President Duterte's reversal on a Boracay gambling ban could reactivate Leisure & Resorts World Corp's (LRWC) casino development plans with Galaxy Entertainment Group. This potential revival, initially stalled due to environmental concerns, now faces local opposition and skepticism from analysts regarding Galaxy's strategic focus amidst Macau's gaming license expiry and China's overseas gambling crackdown.","focusai_entities":"Leisure & Resorts World Corp (LRWC), Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., Rodrigo Duterte, Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, GMA News Online, Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd, Boracay Island Development Authority, Natividad Bernardino, Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group","focusai_location":"Boracay, Philippines, Macau, China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Boracay Project Feasibility?","query":"What specific regulatory and environmental compliance hurdles must LRWC and Galaxy Entertainment overcome to make a Boracay integrated resort project viable, considering local opposition and past environmental concerns?"},{"label":"Galaxy's Capital Strategy?","query":"How does the potential Boracay investment fit into Galaxy Entertainment's capital allocation strategy, especially given its Macau concession renewal and China's stance on overseas gaming?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,158,16333],"tags":[22935,23907,3857],"class_list":["post-22208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-galaxy-entertainment","tag-land-based-casino","tag-lrwc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22239,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208\/revisions\/22239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}