{"id":87274,"date":"2018-09-04T06:46:05","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=87274"},"modified":"2018-09-04T06:46:05","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:46:05","slug":"rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Says DOJ Agrees Landing Casino Cannot Proceed"},"content":{"rendered":"

A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal investigation into the legality of a land-lease deal in Manila’s Entertainment City\u00a0has concluded that the contract reached with Hong Kong developer Landing International was obtained in unlawful means.<\/p>\n

\"Rodrigo
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is trying to terminate a land deal in Manila with casino developer Landing International. (Image: GGRAsia\/Czar Dance\/Reuters\/Casino.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duterte spokesman Harry Roque told reporters this week that the land-lease is void effective immediately. The news comes just days after the Philippines Department of Justice (DOJ) said it had completed its review into how Landing was able to secure<\/a> such a favorable lease.<\/p>\n

\n

The DOJ has joined the president in concluding that the contract is void ab initio,” Roque declared. “According to the Secretary of Justice, the contract of Landing \u2026 is a build-to-operate transfer (BOT) contract disguised as a lease contract.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

GGRAsia<\/i>, an online media outlet focused on Asian gaming issues, was first to report Roque’s comments. The presidential spokesman added that BOT contracts require a competitive bidding process, which there was none in the Landing Manila deal.<\/p>\n

The specific land-lease terms allow Landing to pay rent on the land that is more than two-thirds below market value. The contract is for 70 years.<\/p>\n

Landing Still Taking Off<\/b><\/h2>\n

Landing International, which owns and operates casino resort Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea, wants to build a $1.5 billion property in Manila. The company received an operational permit from the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) in July, and after finalizing land-lease terms with local officials in Manila, the project seemed cleared to begin construction.<\/p>\n

However, just hours after the ceremonial groundbreaking, Duterte halted construction because the lease was “grossly disadvantageous to the government.”<\/p>\n

\n

The Nayong Pilipino Foundation, the local government agency in Manila, was responsible for reaching the Landing lease terms. Maria Fema Duterte, who served on the foundation board and married into the president’s family, was the whistleblower who warned her relative<\/a> on the poor rent arrangement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“It did not undergo the proper process,” Maria told reporters. They [board members] did not publicize or put it to challenge of other investors for comparison.”<\/p>\n

Landing says without a formal legal withdrawal, the company believes it has every right to move forward. Despite Duterte firing the entire Nayong Pilipino Foundation board, including his in-law, Landing says their replacement “did not affect the validity of the \u2026 lease.”<\/p>\n

Blocking Investment<\/b><\/h2>\n

Duterte has tasked PAGCOR with making the Philippines into the “top gaming and entertainment destination” in southeast Asia. But his revolving position on casino gambling has caused chaos.<\/p>\n

Landing’s project, officially known as NayonLanding, would be much more than just a casino and hotel. Plans for the resort include a waterpark, two theme parks, convention center, and numerous dining establishments. It’s slated to open in 2022.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Duterte isn’t only interjecting in Manila. The president additionally recently cancelled a planned casino and resort on the vacation island of Boracay.<\/p>\n

The $500 million project comes from Galaxy Entertainment. Its founder and CEO Lui Che Woo declared last week that he remains “very confident” on bringing the blueprint to life. The 89-year-old billionaire says the media reports are misleading, and that the Boracay resort wouldn’t be focused on gaming, but tourism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal investigation into the legality of a land-lease deal in Manila’s Entertainment City\u00a0has concluded that the contract reached with Hong Kong developer Landing International was obtained in unlawful means. Duterte spokesman Harry Roque told reporters this week that the land-lease is void effective immediately. The news […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":87279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,18,61,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/\",\"name\":\"Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is trying to terminate a land deal in Manila with casino developer Landing International. (Image: GGRAsia\/Czar Dance\/Reuters\/Casino.org)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Live Casinos\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/live-casinos\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Says DOJ Agrees Landing Casino Cannot Proceed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed","description":"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed","og_description":"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/","name":"Philippines Rodrigo Duterte Says Manila Casino Plan Cannot Proceed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-04T13:46:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"A spokesman for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says the federal justice department agrees with the president that the Landing casino cannot proceed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/collage-2.jpg","width":1200,"height":768,"caption":"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is trying to terminate a land deal in Manila with casino developer Landing International. (Image: GGRAsia\/Czar Dance\/Reuters\/Casino.org)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rodrigo-duterte-says-doj-agrees-landing-casino-project-cannot-proceed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Live Casinos","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/live-casinos\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Says DOJ Agrees Landing Casino Cannot Proceed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}