{"id":73396,"date":"2018-03-20T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=73396"},"modified":"2018-03-20T14:34:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T21:34:30","slug":"galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Galaxy to Move Ahead with Casino on Philippine Resort Island Despite Duterte Shut-Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s Galaxy Entertainment is pressing ahead with the construction of a $500 million integrated casino resort on Boracay Island<\/a> in the Philippines, despite the country\u2019s president Rodrigo Duterte recently describing the island \u201ca cesspool\u201d and ordering it to be closed.<\/p>\n

\"Boracay
Boracay Island in the central Philippines was voted \u201cBest Island in the World\u201d by readers of Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler magazine last year, but was recently branded a cesspool by President Rodrigo Duterte who has ordered its closure. (Image: Quartz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On March 15, army general turned environmental secretary Roy Cimatu seconded his boss\u2019 appraisal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor public health, public interest and general welfare, I recommend to the president the closure of Boracay Island as tourist destination for a maximum of one year effective one month after the declaration,\u201d Cimatu said.<\/p>\n

The move to close the island has come as a surprise to many and is opposed by the tourism industry. Last year Boracay was voted \u201cBest Island in the World\u201d by readers of\u00a0Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/em>\u00a0magazine, and its demotion to \u201ccesspool\u201d has been swift.<\/p>\n

Island Pollution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The island in the central Philippines attracts over a million\u00a0tourists who generate an estimated $772.5 million in revenue every year.<\/p>\n

But the tourism boom has taken its toll. Recent studies have suggested the water quality at Boracay\u2019s sparkling beaches is deteriorating because of the discharge of untreated sewage near the shoreline, while the coral reef has been damaged. Unregulated commercial developments are also threatening the island\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Andrea Domingo, head of Philippine regulator PAGCOR, said that Galaxy had applied for, and will receive, a provisional gaming license.<\/p>\n

\n

The company claims it will open casino operations in four months \u2013 a problematic timeline considering the island\u2019s imminent closure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, Domingo suggested four months was optimistic and added the ongoing construction is not expected to impact the island clean-up.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Casino construction] is still a go because the closure of Boracay is to clean up for 6 months to 12 months,\u201d she said. \u201cFirst, I think that area, although I have not seen it, is not really along the beach where there\u2019s a problem.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Second, they\u2019re still building. You know how it is when they build like they\u2019re going to invest $300 million to $500 million. That\u2019s huge construction that you\u2019ll not finish in one year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genting Eying Boracay Casino<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Domingo added that Malaysian casino giant Genting had also applied to build a casino resort on the island and the regulator was considering the proposal. She said the Genting application had been submitted in 2014, before Duterte came to power.<\/p>\n

In January, Duterte ordered PAGCOR to stop issuing new gaming licenses<\/a> because the country already had its fair share. However, applications received before the president\u2019s announcement are still being considered.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, PAGCOR has also approved applications for gaming operations from two existing hotels on island. In light of environmental concerns, all proposed operations will be rigorously scrutinized by the regulator, although Domingo appeared pretty relaxed about the situation this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, if you\u2019re investing $500 million in a hotel, you wouldn\u2019t dump your waste into the [sea],\u201d the Pagcor chief reasoned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s Galaxy Entertainment is pressing ahead with the construction of a $500 million integrated casino resort on Boracay Island in the Philippines, despite the country\u2019s president Rodrigo Duterte recently describing the island \u201ca cesspool\u201d and ordering it to be closed. On March 15, army general turned environmental secretary Roy Cimatu seconded his boss\u2019 appraisal. \u201cFor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":73399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGalaxy to Move Ahead with Casino on Boracay Island, Despite Shut-Down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Galaxy Entertainment to continue building Boracay casino, even though the resort island has been branded a \u201ccesspool\u201d by President Rodrigo Duterte who has ordered its closure.\" \/>\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=\"Galaxy to Move Ahead with Casino on Boracay Island, Despite Shut-Down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Galaxy Entertainment to continue building Boracay casino, even though the resort island has been branded a \u201ccesspool\u201d by President Rodrigo Duterte who has ordered its closure.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-03-20T23:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-20T21:34:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/duterte-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1439\" \/>\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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/\",\"name\":\"Galaxy to Move Ahead with Casino on Boracay Island, Despite Shut-Down\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/duterte-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-20T23:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-20T21:34:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Galaxy Entertainment to continue building Boracay casino, even though the resort island has been branded a \u201ccesspool\u201d by President Rodrigo Duterte who has ordered its closure.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-to-move-ahead-with-casino-on-philippine-resort-island-despite-duterte-shut-down\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/duterte-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/duterte-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1439,\"caption\":\"Boracay Island in the central Philippines was voted \u201cBest Island in the World\u201d by readers of Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler magazine last year, but was recently branded a cesspool by President Rodrigo Duterte who has ordered its closure. 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