ANGELES CITY – Three militant groups said yesterday it would be “lawful and politically correct” for Pres. Aquino to cancel the contract between the state-owned Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation (Pagcor) and Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada.
The $2-billion contract for a Las Vegas type entertainment center on a reclamation area in the Manila Bay is allegedly “tainted with corruption and highly contrary to public interest and marine environment,” said the joint statement issued by Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), the Koalisyon Kontra Kumbersyon ng Manila Bay (KKK-Manila Bay) and Anakpawis-Manila Bay.
The groups noted that Okada’s company is currently facing a suit before a US court for bribing Philippine gaming regulators to clinch the contract that would allow the casino firm to build a $2-billion Las Vegas type gambling center in a reclaimed area in Manila Bay.
Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis national council member Fernando Hicap and KKK-Manila Bay convener Salvador France said it would be “lawful and politically and morally correct for Pres. Aquino to scrap the deal with Okada’s casino company.”
“The contract is not only checkered with corruption, but also filled with cruel intentions to displace fishing communities,” the statement said.
Hicap noted that no less 100,000 families of fisherfolk and urban poor in Metro Manila and nearby Cavite province will be affected by the casino project.
An American gambling firm earlier accused Japanese gambling tycoon of making improper cash payments and gifts to gambling regulators of Pagcor in the amount of US$110,000 US dollars.
The statement noted a report filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claiming that some Filipino regulators were treated to dinners and given Chanel bags and suites at Wynn Macau courtesy of the Japanese casino tycoon.
Universal Entertainment through subsidiary Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. broke ground on January 26 at the 12-hectare Pagcor Entertainment City on Manila Bay.
Hicap recalled that Okada’s group and three others were awarded by state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) with a contract to build a hotel-resort complex in the Entertainment City during the incumbency of Efraim Genuino, Pagcor chairman during the Arroyo administration.
“On top of first rate crimes of corruption and bribery, the rise of this $ 2-billion Las Vegas type gambling center is a virtual death certificate to all fishing activities in Manila Bay.
This not the kind of development the small fisherfolk and the Filipino people are demanding from Pres. Aquino.
We have no future under a Republic of Gamblers. We don’t want to be replaced or displaced by slot machines, gambling tables, gambling cards and chips,” the groups said.
Pamalakaya said “the mushrooming of gambling centers, high rise buildings and other commercial establishments along t he lake have greatly contributed to the loss of livelihood among small fishermen, the massive demolitions of coastal communities and the rapid degradation of Manila Bay environment over the last 50 years.”
“Imagine a world where 100,000 fishing families or 600,000 people will be dislodged by 500 gaming tables, 150 high-end stores and 3,000 slot machines in the name of Aquino’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program,” Hicap added.
The Japanese investor and the state-owned Pagcor said, however, that the project will contribute significantly to the economy and create 400,000 jobs.
The Las Vegas gambling center project will involve the development of two luxury casino hotels with 450 and 650 rooms for each.
Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. is one of the four major investors in the Pagcor project that include Bloombury Investments of ports tycoon Enrique Razon, Belle Corporation in partnership with SM group and the Resorts World group of Andrew Tan controlled Alliance Global Inc.
Pamalakaya said the 45-hectare casino project in Manila Bay is a precursor to another ambitious project being planned by the Philippine Reclamation Authority.
The group said the PRA is planning to reclaim some 615 hectares of foreshore areas in Manila Bay, excluding the 175-hectare mangrove and marine sanctuary in Las Pinas and Paranaque.
The group said the setting up of world class gambling and entertainment center in Manila Bay has been presided by the reclamation of no less than 7,000 hectares of foreshore areas in Cavite with the construction of R-1 Expressway Extension Project or the Cavite Expressway to be followed by the reclamation of another 5,000 hectares of coastal areas in Cavite City for the rehabilitation and expansion of Sangley Point which the PPP intends to develop as an international air and seaport hub in Southern Tagalog.
