The Philippine President said he will no longer meddle with gambling, alluding to the potential end of his three-year campaign against the proliferation of gambling
The end of Rodrigo Duterte’s war on gambling might be lurking around the corner as the President of the Philippines said over the weekend that he would not “meddle with it anymore.”
Mr. Duterte stepped in as the Philippines’ top official in the summer of 2016. He embarked on a campaign against all things gambling early into his presidency as part of a larger clampdown aiming to eradicate all vice and indecency across his country.
The first wave of President Duterte’s war on gambling involved cracking down on online gambling. The official believed the sector was a major source of trouble and vowed to destroy it. At first, he planned to ban online gambling altogether, but his policies softened a little bit later into his presidential term and he allowed the activity to be conducted only at designated places.
He also allowed the Philippines to become a hub for offshore online gambling under the Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) licensing program. Under that program, PAGCOR, the nation’s gambling regulator, can license international gambling operators to provide their services from within the territory of the Philippines. However, they are not allowed to target residents of the country.
”I Cannot Stop It”
Speaking at a miting de avance (final rally ahead of today’s midterm election in the country) of his party PDP-Laban on Saturday night, President Duterte said that he would not meddle with gambling anymore as he cannot control it. He went on to explain that he would leave it up to residents of the country to decide whether they should engage in gambling or not, and that he lacks the resources to crack down on the activity.
President Duterte giving up on his clampdown on gambling could be good news to the country’s casino industry. In January 2018, the Philippines’ top official implemented a ban on new casino licenses, even though a number of local business magnates and foreign investors have expressed interest in developing casino resorts in the country.
Earlier this year, the head of PAGCOR, Andrea Domingo, urged President Duterte to partially lift the ban so that the country could benefit from an industry that seems to be thriving across the Asia-Pacific region. A spokesperson for the President responded to Ms. Domingo’s comments that President Duterte’s position on casinos has not changed and would remain unchanged “until such time as he makes a formal statement.”
Last year, the Philippines’ top official closed the island of Boracay for much-needed environmental clean-up and thus prevented the start of the development of a $550-million integrated resort in the popular tourism hub. Hong Kong-listed gaming and hospitality operator Galaxy Entertainment Group had been granted a provisional license to build a property on Boracay. President Duterte said that he would prevent the construction of the resort and would prevent the island from becoming a gambling hub.
The Philippine President interfered with the materialization of another casino project that was scheduled to start last year. Hong Kong-based real estate developer Landing International Development broke ground on a $1.5-billion resort in the Philippine capital, Manila, in August 2018, but President Duterte said that he would block the project as the lease contract for the planned hotel and casino complex was flawed, “grossly disadvantageous”, and “ridiculously long.”
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