PAGCOR blasts Quezon City over casino project

The Philippine regulator has addressed the casino issue in Quezon City and said the local government has no right to regulate the segment.

Philippines.- A Bloomberry Resorts casino project in Quezon City has been put in question by the local government, which has attempted to block it. However, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) criticised their intentions and said they have no right to regulate the industry, not even in their territory.

The regulator’s reaction comes after city Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte was clear about her intentions to make it hard for the company to profit from the venue: “Since the argument is it should be for tourism, it should cater only to tourists,” she told local news outlet the Inquirer. “We’ll really make it hard for Quezon City residents to go [inside] the casino.”

However, PAGCOR said they have no right to regulate the industry, but if they are against it they could just not issue the business permits they have signed.

PAGCOR’s chairwoman Andrea Domingo had already said such a regulatory change was only possible to get enforced by the gaming body, to which Belmonte answered: “I welcome [the TRO] so the courts can decide whether it’s the Pagcor charter or Local Government Code that has precedence.”

Back in August, founder and chairman of Bloomberry Resorts, Enrique Razon Jr., said the second Solaire casino in the Philippines could be completed by 2022 in Quezon City. The executive said the master plan should be done by January 2019 and projected the total floor to be the same as its casino in Entertainment City in Manila.