President Rodrigo R. Duterte said late Thursday that he will allow a casino to operate on Boracay, citing the need to raise more funds for the government, which he said is running out of money.
In a taped Cabinet meeting, Mr. Duterte acknowledged the softening of his previous reluctance to allow the expansion of gambling.
“Kung magsabi kayo, ‘Itong si Duterte, akala ko ayaw mong sugal tapos ngayon ‘yung sa Boracay, ‘yung gambling house doon, ine-encourage mong buksan para sa tourists.’ Patawarin na po ninyo ako for the contradiction (Pardon me if you see a contradiction in encouraging gambling on Boracay, as I was previously opposed to gambling),” he said.
“Ngayon po wala tayong pera. Kung saan man tayo makakuha ng pera, kukunin ko. Kung diyan sa gambling, so be it (We don’t have money, and need to raise funds using whatever means. If it’s from gambling, so be it),” he added.
The President in February 2018 had ordered the industry’s regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., to stop approving new casinos due to the risk of oversupply.
The operations of foreign offshore gaming firms were briefly suspended after the pandemic hit in March 2020. They were allowed to resume partial operations in May last year after being classified as business processing outsourcing companies, which are deemed essential to the economy.
Previous gambling venues on the resort island had to shut down after Boracay underwent a six-month rehabilitation to repair damage to the environment starting in April 2018. – Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
