The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and Angeles City Police Office as well as members of regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group closed Fontana Casino and 15 casino rooms at the Fontana Leisure Parks here on Sunday following President Duterte’s order to have its owner, Lam, arrested.
The casino was shut down due to lack of permits and legal documents as well as immigration papers for its 1,318 foreign workers.
It was learned that due to the closure order, some 500 legitimate casino workers are yet to receive their Christmas bonuses from the management of Fontana Casino.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II claimed that the Macau-based Lam tried to bribe Pagcor chair Andrea “Didi” Domingo and immigration officials with millions of pesos for the release of the illegal workers.
This was later confi rmed by Domingo herself who said she was offered a one percent cut from Lam’s casino earnings.
Lam allegedly offered a P100 million a month payola as protection money for his gambling operations here as well as in Fort Ilocandia.
But Lam reportedly left for Hong Kong last November 29 as confirmed by Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang.
Ritchie Nacpil, chief of operations of the Clark International Airport Corp., said Clark airport had no record of him flying from this freeport in the past weeks. Clark has daily flights to Hong Kong.
Pagcor posted a sign in front of the casino saying the facility is ordered closed immediately “pending investigation by the DOJ [Department of Justice] of illegal or unlicensed online gaming operations and employment of aliens without proper permits … in violation of the Philippine anti- illegal gambling, labor and immigration laws.”
The CIDG clarified that only the casino was included in the order and not the other establishments inside Fontana.
Also covered by the closure order is Fontana’s affiliated establishment in Fort Ilocandia, Laoag City.
The order was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Meanwhile, Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales has issued Executive Order No. 32 on Monday creating the Task Force and Action Unit (TFAU) of Mabalacat City headed by Atty. Rene C. Fernando with members Atty. Jena Mae M. Yumul, tourism officer Edgar “Guy” Hilbero, city administrator Bernard B. Delos Reyes, Benjamin R. Pangan and Diosdado “Deng” Pangilinan to work closely with the national government in its investigation of Fontana which lies in the jurisdiction of the city.
“We don’t have to do anything with it. Under RA 9400, we only have a two-percent share from its GIE (gross income earned) in lieu of local taxes,” Morales explained. “But we are very much willing to cooperate with the national government and agencies involved in the investigation.”
