Confusion Reigns Over Boracay Island Casino Project

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Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 | Written by Charles Washington

In March, Hong Kong-listed firm Galaxy Entertainment Group received a provisional license to build a $500-million integrated casino-resort on the small island of Boracay, situated 196 miles south of Manila. It seems that all bets are now off, though, after Tourism Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre stated on Tuesday:

“Galaxy has said that they are now looking for another venue. And that’s very much welcome, Secretary [Department of Tourism] Teo answered that – interagency task force is happy that they’re looking.”

The move appears to have been influenced by President Duterte’s decision to shut down the island for six months while a wide scale environmental clean up operation is instigated to reverse pollution caused by mass tourism. Locals, however, view the six month closure as being connected to the casino project, and fearful of potential bankruptcies and job losses have threatened protests, leading this week to 600 police officers being deployed to the island to keep out all tourists, both domestic and international.

Boracay Island “Cesspool”

In 2012, Boracay was named the best island in the world by ‘Travel + Leisure’, and in 2016 it still headed the travel magazine’s list of Top 10 destinations. Last year, Boracay Island subsequently attracted 2 million visitors, generating more than $1 billion in tourism revenue for the country.

Unfortunately, mass tourism has also had an adverse effect on its environment, and this year the Philippines President called it a “cesspool”, and accused the island resort’s hotel owners and restaurateurs of dumping raw sewage into the sea. The situation has been made worse by 195 businesses and some 4,000 residents not being connected to sewer lines, and as Mr Duterte commented a few months back:

“You go into the water, it’s smelly. Smell of what? S**t. Because it all comes out in Boracay.”

Island Shutdown

According to officials, the island’s sewage problem will turn Boracay into a “dead island” within a decade in the absence of a concerted clean up operation, leading to the decision to close the island to tourists while drastic action is taken. This includes the potential suspension of ferry services, making the beaches no go zones, and the deployment of more police “if necessary”.

Furthermore, some airlines have already started cutting back on their services to Boracay Island, including Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, whose president Jaime Bautista stated that his company “supports the government’s intention to make Boracay fully safe and environmentally friendly.”

While, local businesses have lobbied for a phased rehabilitation program rather than an abrupt shutdown, the government has gone full steam ahead with its plan and in addition to being prohibited from boating and night swimming, Boracay residents will be given new identification cards three days before the April 26 shutdown. As Chief Superintendent Cesar Binag then explains:

“In any transition, especially for a drastic action such as this, there is always confusion, uncertainties, and low morale. What we did was to identify the sources of confusion, sources of uncertainty and sources of low morale that might result to agitation and eventually into a security issue.”

Boracay Casino Concerns

Borcay residents are concerned that their livelihoods will be severely impacted by the island’s closure to tourists, and have said that up to 36,000 jobs may be lost as a result. Moreover, they view plans to build a mega-casino on the island as the main reason such drastic measures are being taken, prompting a response from President Duterte denying the accusation and stating that there was already numerous casinos across the Philippines.

While this would appear to conflict with the fact that Galaxy Entertainment has already received a casino license to build an integrated resort on Borcay, Tourism Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre has stated that Galaxy Entertainment is currently looking for another location for their casino-resort, and that they would now have to instigate a new application process with gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR).

Helping to clear up the confusion somewhat, Pagcor has said that Galaxy Entertainment’s license was provisional, and facilitated just the very start of a long process to obtain a final casino license called the Notice to Commence Casino Operations. In the meantime, Leisure and Resorts World Corp (LRWC) has said that it was still in talks with its partner Galaxy Entertainment and that a final decision has yet to be made concerning the proposed Boracay casino.

“Following protocol, no change in plans or project location would be made without prior consultation and agreement with Pagcor. Contrary to claims that Galaxy has abandoned its planned Boracay project, no such announcement has been made nor communicated with Pagcor,” explained a LRWC statement.