STATE-OWNED Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) said it is not yet ready to grant additional licenses to another large casino operator, including the owner of Caesars Palace, as the agency will have to assess first if the current gaming market in the country can absorb the existing investors in the Manila Entertainment City.
Pagcor Chairman Cristino L. Naguiat Jr. told reporters that the agency, which regulates the $4-billion Entertainment City complex and also operates its own smaller version of casinos in the Philippines, is receiving a lot of queries from other operators.
But this will not automatically lead to new licenses.
He clarified that Caesars Entertainment Corp., the largest operator of casinos in the United States, has not yet contacted him on its plan to put up another billion-dollar casino in the Philippines.
“I think they have talked to the President [Aquino] once when he was in San Francisco. But that was just a courtesy call to the President. But there is nothing in discussion on our side other than discussions with one of our departments,” Naguiat said.
He said granting additional licenses to other operators will be “unfair” to the existing licensees, most of which were situated in the Entertainment City in Parañaque.
“We have to look first what will happen in the four existing licensees. We’re not even sure if the four [can be profitable],” he said.
And Naguiat, who has not given out any new license since he assumed the post in 2010, made it clear the terms of reference given to the current four players in the Entertainment City will not be given to the new entrants.
“These people took the risk to investing so much money. They can’t just come in when the [Philippine gaming market] is already ripe. It could be unfair for existing licensees,” he said.
According to reports, Caesars approached the government to build an integrated resort and casino in a property next to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay, about 5 kilometers away from the Entertainment City.
The said move was part of its Asian expansion. Pagcor awarded in 2008 and 2009 four licenses to casino operators, who committed to build at least $1 billion worth of facilities in the Entertainment City.
The licenses were given to SM Group-led Belle Corp., which took in the group of Macau’s Melco Crown Entertainment, led by Lawrence Ho and James Packer and named their facility City of Dreams Manila; Andrew Tan’s Resorts World Bayshore; Enrique Razon’s Solaire Resort and Casino; and Kazuo Okada’s Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
Naguiat said it has already slapped Okada’s Tiger resort with a fine of P100 million for the delay of its casino project that was originally scheduled to open by next year. The company is still constructing its facility.
The delay, however, was caused by the Japanese group not able to find a domestic partner after the pullout of the Gokongwei family. It is still at odds with the Century Properties Group Inc.
Pagcor is expecting revenues of about P10 billion a year when all the four facilities are operational.