Pagcor to ensure ‘world-class’ Entertainment City

They marketed the Entertainment City Manila leisure complex as a world-class facility and they intend to complete it—and keep it—as such.

On Monday, the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) announced that it would appoint an independent consulting firm “to certify and ensure” that all four licensees in the multibillion-dollar development would “adhere to the minimum standards” mandated by the gaming regulator.

Pagcor did not disclose which third-party assessor it would choose but said in a statement that this decision was given the green light by its board of directors recently.

Pagcor chairman and CEO Cristino L. Naguiat Jr. said his agency—which acts as both an operator of casinos and a regulator of the local gaming industry—made the move to stress the minimum standards required to operate integrated resorts in the Entertainment City Manila.

“This is in order to rationalize project implementation and assure a level playing field,” he said.

Pagcor’s decision comes on the heels of its move to require licensees to first put up and operate hotels on the sprawling site along Manila Bay before they would be allowed to conduct the more lucrative casino operations.

Four companies were granted the authority to build, own and operate integrated resorts on the site, namely Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., which owns Resorts World Manila; the SM consortium, which includes Belle Corp.; Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc.; and Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc.

Entertainment City Manila is expected to generate total investments from the four licensees of at least $4 billion over the next five years.

Pagcor’s guidelines require a minimum of $1 billion to be invested in each integrated resort.

Each licensee is also required to build a minimum of 250,000 square meters of floor area and complete 800 hotel rooms with an average hotel room area of 40 sqm.

“To ensure transparency and adherence to global standards, Pagcor will soon begin the process of engaging a well-respected consulting firm that will monitor the compliance of each licensee with respect to the guidelines that we have recently imposed on the licensees,” Naguiat said.

Pagcor said it was encouraging all four licensees to fast-track the

development of Entertainment City Manila with at least 5,000 new internationally benchmarked hotel rooms.

This is meant to boost the local tourism industry and move the country closer to becoming one of the major tourism destinations in Asia.

“We intend to capture a share in the total global gaming market, which is estimated at $115 billion annually, through the Entertainment City Manila project,” the Pagcor chief said. “A 10-percent share will give us $11.5

billion, which would make us bigger than Las Vegas.”

“Our location in Asia and Filipino hospitality and service set us apart from other countries in the region,” he added. “We expect to generate 1 million jobs and [attract] 1 million tourists in the next few years.”