{"id":30301,"date":"2022-05-31T04:54:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T07:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=30301"},"modified":"2026-04-23T08:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:15:19","slug":"nmi-senators-push-to-open-up-casino-licences-on-the-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/nmi-senators-push-to-open-up-casino-licences-on-the-islands","title":{"rendered":"NMI senators push to open up casino licences on the islands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two senators have called for the Senate leadership to act on Senate Bill 22-23, which would allow more casino licences to be granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Northern Mariana Islands.-\u00a0<strong>Paul A. Manglona <\/strong>and <strong>Edith Deleon Guerrero<\/strong>, members of the Senate&#8217;s minority bloc, have called for progress on Senate Bill 22-23. The bill would end Imperial Pacific International&#8217;s exclusivity as the only casino licensee on the islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Manglona and Deleon Guerrero, the economic benefits generated by new casinos could be used to pay a 25 per cent benefit to retirees. The senators note that IPI closed its casino on March 17, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic but that its licence is now suspended, negatively affecting the islands&#8217; economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The senators also pushed for Resolution 22-01, which requests Gov. Ralph DLG Torres instruct the Planning and Development Advisory Council to \u201cimmediately provide a report\u201d on casinos to the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last October,\u00a0Ralph N Yumul, the house floor leader, introduced\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/cnmi-could-allow-5-casino-licences-on-saipan-through-a-new-bill\" target=\"_blank\">a bill to allow five casino licences in Saipan<\/a>. According to Yumul,<strong>\u00a0the island needed more than one operator<\/strong> since <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/ccc-seeks-immediate-revocation-of-ipi-casino-licence\" target=\"_blank\">IPI<\/a>\u00a0was not able to pay taxes and its US$15m exclusive licence fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in March, during an interview with Saipan Tribune, Andrew Yeom, the Commonwealth Casino Commission\u2019s executive director, revealed that&nbsp;<strong>two New Jersey investors<\/strong>&nbsp;were interested in operating an offline and online casino in Saipan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hearing to define the fate of IPI\u2019s casino licence was scheduled for May 24 but was delayed after\u00a0<strong>Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona<\/strong>\u00a0issued\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/cnmi-court-postpones-ccc-hearing-on-ipi-casino-licence-for-second-time\" target=\"_blank\">a temporary restraining order<\/a>\u00a0preventing the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) from holding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her report, Manglona explained that the damage IPI could suffer from the cancellation of the licence far outweighs the possible damage to the CCC. In addition,&nbsp;<strong>she ordered the regulator to appear at a hearing on June 2<\/strong>&nbsp;to explain why a preliminary injunction should not be issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CCC chief Andrew Yeom said he was not satisfied with the request because IPI had to respond to&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/andrew-yeom-files-a-fifth-complaint-against-ipi\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">five complaints from the commission<\/a>, including paying licence fees and settling claims with some suppliers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two senators have called for the Senate leadership to act on Senate Bill 22-23, which would allow more casino licences to be granted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Senators in the Northern Mariana Islands are advocating for legislative action, including Senate Bill 22-23, to terminate Imperial Pacific International's (IPI) exclusive casino license and enable the issuance of multiple new operator licenses. This initiative aims to stimulate economic recovery and generate revenue for public benefits, addressing IPI's prolonged operational suspension, non-payment of fees, and ongoing legal disputes with the Commonwealth Casino Commission. The legislative push underscores the jurisdiction's efforts to diversify its gaming market and enhance regulatory compliance.","focusai_entities":"Paul A. Manglona, Edith Deleon Guerrero, Imperial Pacific International, Ralph DLG Torres, Planning and Development Advisory Council, Ralph N Yumul, Andrew Yeom, Commonwealth Casino Commission, Ramona V. Manglona, New Jersey investors","focusai_location":"Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, New Jersey","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"IPI License Fate?","query":"What is the projected timeline for the Commonwealth Casino Commission's final determination on Imperial Pacific International's suspended license, particularly in light of the temporary restraining order and subsequent hearing?"},{"label":"New Operator Impact?","query":"How would the introduction of multiple new casino licensees, including potential online operators, impact the projected Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) and Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) for the Northern Mariana Islands, and what specific economic diversification benefits are anticipated?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,154],"tags":[24134,22674],"class_list":["post-30301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-imperial-pacific-international","tag-ipi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30301","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=30301"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30316,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30301\/revisions\/30316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}