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Manila Bulletin devider devider Boracay business group welcomes casino ban, but...

Boracay business group welcomes casino ban, but...

Published Oct 25, 2018 08:47 pm
By Tara Yap BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — The resort island’s biggest business group may welcome the request of the government’s inter-agency task force to cancel licenses of the three casinos that existed prior to its April 26 closure. “We’re happy in a way. It is aligned with what we wanted,” said Pia Miraflores, executive director of Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI). Except for a few local residents, the beach front of Boracay Island looks desolated Thursday afternoon. The country’s most popular beach destination is set to open Friday after a six-month closure and massive work to reverse its environmental degradation. (Tara Yap/ MANILA BULLETIN) Except for a few local residents, the beach front of Boracay Island looks desolated Thursday afternoon. The country’s most popular beach destination is set to open Friday after a six-month closure and massive work to reverse its environmental degradation. (Tara Yap/ MANILA BULLETIN) Secretaries Roy Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bernadette Romulo-Puyat of the Department of Tourism (DOT), and Eduardo Año of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier urged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to cancel licenses of Boracay casinos as the resort island will reopen to tourists on Friday, October 26. Miraflores told The Manila Bulletin Thursday that BFI had long opposed plans of Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) and Leisure Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) to construct the casino on a 23-hectare property. BFI’s opposition was manifested last January 19, months prior to President Duterte’s decision to close down the resort island while publicly stating that no casinos will be allowed in Boracay. BFI previously pushed for a moratorium on new casinos. BFI also previously asked the Malay Town Council to regulate the operation of small-time casinos including online betting offered by a resort. “We asked the council to draft an ordinance because the casinos were not regulated,” Miraflores said. Prior to the April 26 closure, the small-time casinos operating in Boracay only allowed foreigners to play or Filipinos with a foreign passport.
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