{"id":54508,"date":"2017-07-13T18:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T01:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=54508"},"modified":"2017-07-13T15:28:04","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T22:28:04","slug":"rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodrigo Duterte Favorite To Break Ground on Philippines\u2019 First Casino Outside Manila"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans to build the first Philippine casino resort outside Manila appear to be coming to fruition for businessman Dennis Uy\u2019s Udenna Development Corp.<\/p>\n

\"Dennis
Under President Rodrigo Duterte, Dennis Uy has graduated from \u201cthe fringes of the business elite\u201d to one of the \u201ccountry\u2019s most energetic dealmakers,\u201d according to Bloomberg. (Image: Philstar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Udenna wants to build to a 12-hectare beachfront resort on the holiday island of Mactan, in the province of Cebu, complete with luxury hotels, infinity pools and a skydiving center.<\/p>\n

Uy, the company\u2019s dynamic chairman and a close personal friend of controversial Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, said this week that funding requirements were close to being secured and he hoped to break ground on the project in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Udenna recently sold a 25 percent stake in listed oil company Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, raising around $80 million to help finance the development of the project, currently known as Lapu-Lapu Leisure\u00a0Mactan.<\/p>\n

Whiff of Corruption?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In May, the company received a provisional gambling license from Philippine operator-regulator Pagcor<\/a>, causing eyebrows to be raised. Uy was Duterte\u2019s top campaign donor when he was seeking election last year.<\/p>\n

Some suggested the ease with which the license had been secured smacked of cronyism. Duterte<\/a> was elected on a populist platform that promised to be tough on corruption and crime.<\/p>\n

But Uy has denied he has received any special favors from Duterte, noting that he applied for the license before his friend assumed power and his company was awarded it on merit. Pagcor also rejected claims of favoritism, explaining Udenna was \u201cmore aggressive\u201d during the tender process.<\/p>\n

Energetic Dealmaker<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nevertheless, as Bloomberg noted in May, Duterte\u2019s ascent to power has motivated \u201ca little-known businessman from the president\u2019s province,\u201d who was \u201conce on the fringes of the business elite\u201d to become \u201cone of the country\u2019s most energetic dealmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually more difficult when you know the president because there\u2019s pressure to lead by example, to do good,\u201d Uy told Bloomberg. On being asked about his meteoric rise under Duterte, he replied that \u201clife is determined by destiny.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Casino resorts, meanwhile, are determined by corporate finance and Uy told Business World this week that this aspect of the project would soon be signed and sealed. He announced that China Bank is \u201cvery supportive\u201d that a deal would be finalized imminently.<\/p>\n

Uy started out selling copra (the dried meat of a coconut that\u2019s used to extract coconut oil), before graduating to, and making his name in, petroleum oil, and then shipping, but he has no experience building and operating a casino.<\/p>\n

He said this week he was open to partnering with international operators on this front,\u00a0 but hopes that he can find the expertise he needs closer to home.<\/p>\n

The $300 million resort is targeted for opening in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plans to build the first Philippine casino resort outside Manila appear to be coming to fruition for businessman Dennis Uy\u2019s Udenna Development Corp. Udenna wants to build to a 12-hectare beachfront resort on the holiday island of Mactan, in the province of Cebu, complete with luxury hotels, infinity pools and a skydiving center. Uy, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":54510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRodrigo Duterte Favorite To Break Ground on Philippines\u2019 First Casino Outside Manila<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rodrigo Duterte favorite Dennis Uy\u2019s Udenna Development Corp close to beginning construction of \u00a0Lapu-Lapu Leisure\u00a0Mactan casino resort. \u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rodrigo Duterte Favorite To Break Ground on Philippines\u2019 First Casino Outside Manila\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rodrigo Duterte favorite Dennis Uy\u2019s Udenna Development Corp close to beginning construction of \u00a0Lapu-Lapu Leisure\u00a0Mactan casino resort. \u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-14T01:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-13T22:28:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/dennis-uy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/\",\"name\":\"Rodrigo Duterte Favorite To Break Ground on Philippines\u2019 First Casino Outside Manila\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/dennis-uy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-14T01:00:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-13T22:28:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Rodrigo Duterte favorite Dennis Uy\u2019s Udenna Development Corp close to beginning construction of \u00a0Lapu-Lapu Leisure\u00a0Mactan casino resort. \u00a0\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-favorite-break-ground-philippines-first-casino-outside-manila\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/dennis-uy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/dennis-uy.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"Under President Rodrigo Duterte, Dennis Uy has graduated from \u201cthe fringes of the business elite\u201d to one of the \u201ccountry\u2019s most energetic dealmakers,\u201d according to Bloomberg. 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