Pagcor extends deadline for $2-B Okada casino

The Philippine gaming regulator said it would extend by one year the deadline for a Universal Entertainment Corp. affiliate to finish construction of a $2-billion integrated casino-resort project.

Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment, Inc., the local unit of gaming magnate Kazuo Okada's Universal, had asked for the extension after missing a March 2015 deadline to complete the Manila Bay Resorts project.

The company, which already had its $2.2-million guarantee confiscated by the gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), has said it would finish the project by December, 2016.

There was no immediate comment from the company on the deadline extension.

Francis Hernando, Pagcor vice president, said Tiger now had to set aside a new 100 million pesos ($2.14 million) guarantee fee, improve its corporate governance and submit a bank guarantee that it could financially support the project.

He also warned the company that it could face more penalties should there be any further delays in the 44-hectare (108.7acre) integrated casino-resort project. "It's a material breach of the provisional license so suspension and revocation is possible," Hernando added.

Tiger holds one of four licenses to operate a casino complex in Entertainment City, the Philippines' much smaller version of the Las Vegas gaming strip. (Reuters)