US$418m Manila resort on course

1Philippine casino mogul Enrique Razon is pushing ahead with plans to build a 20 billion peso (US$418 million) resort in Manila, undeterred by President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on gambling, Bloomberg reported.

The chairman and founder of Bloomberry Resorts said construction of the company’s second casino, in Quezon City in the northern part of metropolitan Manila, may start mid-next year and could be finished in 2019.

Duterte’s campaign is focused on electronic gaming parlors that have been loosely regulated and could actually help companies like Bloomberry, Razon said.

Manila is aspiring to become the next Asian casino hub as high-stakes Chinese gamblers increasingly abandon Macau amid their government’s crackdown on corruption.
Tourist arrivals rose 14 percent to 2.98 million in the first six months of 2016 from a year earlier, with South Korea, US and China the three largest sources, government data show.