Travellers International Hotel Group of tycoon Andrew Tan operates the Resorts World Manila casino and hotel complex in Pasay City.
The gaming sector got off to a shaky start under the new administration after no less than President Duterte himself launched a tirade against businessman Roberto Ongpin, who controlled publicly listed Philweb Corp.
Branding Ongpin as an “oligarch” who “must be destroyed,” the President in effect ended Philweb’s heyday in the lucrative online gaming sector after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. declined to renew the firm’s license.
In a matter of days, billions of pesos worth of Philweb’s market capitalization evaporated from the Philippine Stock Exchange, prompting its chair, Ongpin, to resign and sell his holdings to businessman Gregorio Ma. “Greggy” Araneta III in the hopes of saving the company—an act that failed to sway Pagcor and its new chair, Andrea Domingo.
Before long, the entire gaming sector was on edge, waiting to see which firm would next suffer the President’s wrath.
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But over three months into Mr. Duterte’s administration, it would seem that firms engaged in gaming, from large casino resorts to smaller operators—with the exception of Philweb, of course—were doing well. Doing very well, in fact.
For one, the Philippines’ largest listed gaming firm, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. of ports tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., unveiled plans to build a P20-billion casino in Quezon City, making it his second operation after the highly successful Solaire Resort and Casino in Pagcor Entertainment City.
