No casinos in Boracay, Palace insists

Do not test President Duterte’s resolve against the establishment of casinos in Boracay, Malacañang warned gaming companies anew yesterday.

“I don’t think any private entity should test the political will of the President... The President has said no and I hope they will respect that as part of executive power,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told a press briefing yesterday.

Roque was reacting to the statement of an official of Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC), the local partner of Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., that their plan to build a casinoresort complex is not affected by the six-month closure of Boracay.

LRWC vice president for legal affairs Katrina Nepomuceno said their plan remains on track, noting that they managed to finish what needs to be done before the island was closed to tourists.

LRWC reportedly bought a 23-hectare property in Barangay Manoc-Manoc before the island was closed last April 26.

Nepomuceno said LWRC would ensure that its plans are compliant with environmental regulations.

However, Roque said the provisional license given to LWRC is ”not a license itself.”

”It is conditional. It is provisional. It is subject to... conditions which will never be fulfilled because the President has said he will not allow it,” he said.

Duterte has repeatedly denied there are plans to build a casino on the island.

“There will never be one,” the President said, noting that gambling has “deleterious effects” and should be reduced to the “barest minimum.”

The President issued Proclamation 475 placing Boracay under a state of calamity and ordering concerned agencies to assist people affected by the closure of the island.

The island is expected to reopen in October.