{"id":91120,"date":"2018-10-23T15:15:30","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T22:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=91120"},"modified":"2018-10-23T14:58:26","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T21:58:26","slug":"pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippine Regulator Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Philippines paradise island of Boracay has reopened again in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/philippines-boracay-island-reopens-but-casinos-banned\">soft launch phase<\/a>\u201d &#8212; but not only will there be no new casinos built, its three existing gaming facilities will also close, by order the government.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91124\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91124\" data-style=\"width: 3600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-91124 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui.jpg\" alt=\"Boracay casino\" width=\"3600\" height=\"2400\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-91124\"class=\"text-description\">Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets Lui Che Woo four months before denying any knowledge of the billionaire\u2019s $500 million investment into the country\u2019s tourism industry through the Boracay casino development. (Image: Presidential Photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The country\u2019s state casino operator-regulator, PAGCOR, said Monday it had immediately complied with the executive order to revoke the licenses of all casino operations on Boracay, existing and provisional.<\/p>\n<p>The Philippines&#8217; strongman, populist president Rodrigo Duterte demanded the complete shutdown of the in-vogue vacation destination in April for environmental cleanup, branding it a \u201ccesspool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A month before the proclamation, PAGCOR had granted Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment a provisional license to build a $500 million casino resort on the island, apparently with the presidential blessing.<\/p>\n<p>On December 6, 2017, Duterte received Galaxy\u2019s chairman and founder Dr Lui Che Woo at the presidential palace to discuss the half-billion-dollar investment.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Duterte Gets Shirty <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Soon, though, opposition politicians began to allege that the Boracay clean-up shutdown was a ruse to allow Galaxy to begin work on its resort free from environmental scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Zarate of the Bayan Muna party claimed that the Philippine partner on the project, Leisure and Resorts World Corp, was a company controlled by Duterte allies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>Whether there was a grain of truth to this or not, Duterte reacted badly, claiming to know nothing about any casino project on the island, despite photographic evidence of his meeting with Lui four months earlier (above).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Consider Boracay a land reform area,\u201d he declared. \u201cI will give it to the farmers, to the Filipinos first. I will issue a proclamation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Collateral Damage<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Confusion ensued, as Galaxy and its shareholders tried to work out whether a president well-versed in doublespeak and highly prone to whimsical, crowd-pleasing proclamations was actually being serious.<\/p>\n<p>In July at its annual shareholders meeting, Leisure and Resorts World called his bluff, breezily announcing that progress on the Galaxy resort had not been delayed by the island\u2019s shutdown and was \u201con track to open in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lui <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/galaxy-entertainment-billionaire-lui-che-woo-confident-on-boracay-casino\">echoed that sentiment<\/a> a month later.<\/p>\n<p>But it appears Duterte was being serious. As well as nixing the Galaxy proposal, at least three established casino business will also be forced to close on Boracay.<\/p>\n<p>According to <em>Business Mirror<\/em>, these are the Movenpick Resort &amp; Spa, \u201cowned by juice king Alfredo Yao,\u201d the Crown Regency Resort, and Paradise Garden Resort Hotel and Convention Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Philippines paradise island of Boracay has reopened again in \u201csoft launch phase\u201d &#8212; but not only will there be no new casinos built, its three existing gaming facilities will also close, by order the government. The country\u2019s state casino operator-regulator, PAGCOR, said Monday it had immediately complied with the executive order to revoke the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":91124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.\" \/>\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=\"PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-10-23T22:15:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-23T21:58:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/\",\"name\":\"PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-23T22:15:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-23T21:58:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets Lui Che Woo four months before denying any knowledge of the billionaire\u2019s $500 million investment into the country\u2019s tourism industry through the Boracay casino development. (Image: Presidential Photos)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#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\":\"Philippine Regulator Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses\"}]},{\"@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\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"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-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses","description":"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses","og_description":"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-10-23T22:15:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-23T21:58:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/","name":"PAGCOR Ordered to Revoke All Boracay Casino Gaming Licenses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-23T22:15:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-23T21:58:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Boracay Island Reopens after environmental shutdown to complete Boracay casino shutdown as Philippine government orders PAGCOR to revoke all casino licensing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pagcor-ordered-to-revoke-all-boracay-casino-gaming-licenses\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/duterte-lui-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets Lui Che Woo four months before denying any knowledge of the billionaire\u2019s $500 million investment into the country\u2019s tourism industry through the Boracay casino development. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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