MALACAÑANG on Thursday insisted no casino would be built on Boracay as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, but said it would welcome all investors that would benefit the island’s residents and the government.
“Welcome all investors, but I think the President has already addressed the issue of a new casino in Boracay. There will be no casino in Boracay,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.
In other developments:
• Senator Ralph Recto said Thursday the government should hype Boracay’s reopening as a big global event after its six-month closure for rehabilitation.
“Boracay’s closure could be the “one step backward, two steps forward” strategy which would make the “world’s best island better” and whose reopening in October the government should “drumbeat as a global event,” Recto said.
He expressed belief that the government should market the six-month closure as a needed beauty rest and “that after 25 weeks, it will wake up more refreshed and rejuvenated.”
• Rep. Luis Villafuerte on Thursday urged the Tourism department to launch an aggressive campaign to attract visitors to the other prime tourist spots in the Philippines.
He made the call in the wake of President Duterte’s order to close Boracay for six months to make way for its rehabilitation.
Villafuerte said that, given the right tools, the Tourism department would not find it difficult to sustain the Philippines’ growing number of tourist arrivals even with the closure of Boracay.
He said authoritative and respected online publications such as forbes.com had acknowledged the Philippines as among Asia’s booming tourist locations owing to the improvements in its infrastructure and land, air and sea connectivity.
The world-class island resort of Boracay will be closed starting April 26, and Duterte is also contemplating to declare the entire island in a state of calamity in a bid to release P2 billion to help the thousands of workers and residents to be affected by its closure.
Roque said he was not aware of the permit granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to Macau casino giant Galaxy Entertainment to build a casino in Boracay.
“Do not know what the status is, but the President’s thinking is that, because of the Supreme Court decision that Boracay is state-owned he, as President, would have to make a proclamation whenever there is a particular use intended for any portion of Boracay,” Roque said.
Roque also reiterated the President’s statement that he would give priority to the local residents and farmers’ welfare first.
“Context of the President’s [statement] is that he will give it to the farmers,” Roque said.
“As I said, the President is always serious, but let’s not take him literally; perhaps what the President was saying is that Boracay should be used and should be for the benefit of all Filipinos and not just the owners of the rich resort establishments.”