MANILA, Philippines — The construction of the fourth and final complex that will make up the Pagcor Entertainment City in Parañaque began last week.
In a recent statement, Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez lauded the official start of the construction of the Bayshore City Resorts World last Wednesday, calling the occasion “a most exciting moment for the Philippine gaming industry.”
“This… marks yet another milestone not only for the City of Parañaque but for the entire Philippines…,” he said.
All four licensed integrated resort and gaming complexes that will comprise the soon-to-be entertainment enclave located along Manila Bay in Barangay Don Galo, are “now officially in, although in different stages of development,” according to Olivarez.
The first, Solaire Resort and Casino, has been operating for “quite some time,” Olivarez said.
Meanwhile, the second, the City of Dreams Manila, is set to open within the year.
Olivarez said the third licensee, the Manila Bay Resorts of Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada, has been undergoing construction and would open before the end of 2016.
According to the mayor, other “major infrastructure projects that will complement the tourism destination” are already ongoing.
He said these included the NAIA Skyway Phase 2 and the extension of the LRT Line 1 to Cavite.
The NAIA Skyway project, Olivarez said, “will connect the Skyway along the South Luzon Expressway to the three terminals of NAIA and up to Entertainment City.”
He said this would mean travel to Entertainment City “from all the major points in Metro Manila and nearby provinces,” and vice versa “will soon be only a matter of minutes.”
“As we speak, we already have the completed ramps for this project along Macapagal Boulevard, and another going to the heart of Entertainment City itself, while work along the whole alignment remains on schedule,” he said, adding the entire project should have been “open to the public by next year, in time for the country’s hosting of the APEC Summit.”
Olivarez said the government has also already awarded the LRT Line 1 Extension project from Baclaran in Parañaque to Bacoor in Cavite.
He said under the project, there would be “at least four additional stations along Roxas Boulevard and the Manila-Cavite Expressway within the jurisdiction of Parañaque.”
“For the City of Parañaque, this means not only more jobs for our residents and more revenues for the local government. More importantly, this means we are getting closer to becoming one of the biggest tourist and entertainment destinations not only in the Philippines but in the entire Asia-Pacific region,” Olivarez said.
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