(Eagle News) – “I hate gambling. I will not allow it.”
With this announcement, President Rodrigo Duterte revealed on Wednesday, August 8, why he fired all of the board members of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) the previous day.
The reason was simple, the President said. The NPF board members and management entered into a lease contract that will allow casino gambling for a period of 75 years in a 9.5-hectare property owned by the foundation.
Duterte made the announcement during his speech on the occasion of the 117th Police Service Anniversary in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The President said he would never allow the operation of more casinos outside of what were already existing.
“Yesterday, I fired the council of Nayong Pilipino — all of them. You do not give gambling licenses or franchise for 75 years,” Duterte said.
“You mean to say that a child is born today and 75 years later — he is that old –there will still be gambling in the city? I will not allow it!” he stressed.
“I hate gambling! I do not want it. There will be no casino outside of what are existing now. I am not granting anything. Basta gambling ayaw ko,” he added.
–75 year lease for $1.5 billion theme park by foreign firm-
The Nayong Pilipino Foundation led by its chairperson Patricia Ocampo entered into a contract with a Hong Kong based investor for a $1.5 billion theme park that will include casinos in a resort to be called NayonLanding.
It is proposed to be the world’s second largest, if not the largest, indoor theme park.
The investor is Landing Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed firm Landing International Development Ltd.
The President fired the whole Nayong Pilipino board after he learned of the 75-year lease agreement that would be “grossly disadvantageous” to the state, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier.
On Tuesday morning, just before Duterte fired the Nayong Pilipino officials, the company officials of Landing Philippines even held a press briefing for the groundbreaking ceremony of the upcoming integrated leisure and entertainment resort, NayonLanding, later in the day.
The briefing even touched on the supposed ban that President Duterte imposed on new casinos.
Landing International COO Jay Lee claimed that the ambitious resort project should not be seen just as a casino.
“Do not look at this as a casino and purely as a casino because surely it is not,” he said.
They claimed that the operations of NayonLanding will be patterned after the Hong Kong company’s $2.5 billion flagship project in South Korea, the Jeju Shinwa World.
But in this project, much of the revenue – specifically two-thirds — also come from casino operations.
During Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for NayonLanding, NPF chair Ocampo even commended the foreign investors who will be building the ambitions casino project, saying that the money from the agreement would help the country a lot.
“I have never met an investor for our country that, in the entirety of this whole project and investment, decided to promote our country. That is why our whole board is 200 percent supportive until the end,” Ocampo said in her speech, commending the foreign investors who plan to build the casino resort.
It was not known however if she knew at that time of the news that she and other NPF officials had been sacked that day by the President for the very casino deal she was praising.
Company officials said that they planned to operate the ambitious casino project and theme park after the term of President Duterte ends in 2022, when the Philippine government’s moratorium on new casino operations end.
Duterte however said on Wednesday that he saw the lease agreement for what it was — a long-term deal for more big-time casino and gambling operations to run in the Philippine capital — and said he “will not allow it” as this will be bad for the country.
(Eagle News Service)