GGRAsia – Pagcor inspecting RWM before casino ops resumed: report

Pagcor inspecting RWM before casino ops resumed: report

Jun 28, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) has been inspecting the Resorts World Manila casino resort (pictured) before considering whether to lift the current suspension order on the property’s gaming operations, said Andrea Domingo, head of the gaming regulator.

Pagcor on June 9 instructed the operator to halt its gaming operations pending investigation of an attack on the property on June 2 by a lone gunman that led to the deaths of 37 people.

Resorts World Manila had asked last week that the regulator lift the suspension. In comments reported by the Manila Bulletin newspaper on Wednesday, Ms Domingo said Pagcor sent a team of inspectors to the property on Monday and Tuesday to check if the operator had complied with a checklist of requirements drawn up by the regulator. She added that only after reviewing the inspectors’ findings would a decision be taken.

“We made a template of all the requirements for safety, security, for the training of the manpower,” Ms Domingo was quoted as saying by the media outlet.

“We were informed [by the company]… that they [Resorts World Manila] have done [complied with] all of the requirements and they are now ready to open,” the Pagcor chief reportedly added.

She said: “What we’re doing for the last two days… [is] ensuring that all of the safety and security requirements… are in place.”

Resorts World Manila casino resort is operated by Travellers International Hotel Group Inc, a venture between Philippine-based Alliance Global Group Inc and Genting Hong Kong Ltd.

Ms Domingo stated that the new safety requirements would also be implemented in other casino resorts in Manila, as well as in smaller gaming venues in the country’s provinces.

“We’re not imposing this only to Resorts World Manila, we [are] going to impose it on all other integrated resorts…,” the official was quoted as saying.

Pagcor had said on June 9 that it had required “all integrated resorts [in the country] to submit security and safety protocols”.

Ms Domingo additionally said that daily revenue attributable to Pagcor fell by between PHP12 million (US$237,643) and PHP14 million as a result of the suspension of casino operations at Resorts World Manila. “For the whole month of June, we could have lost PHP384 million. If it [the suspension] continues, let’s say for the whole year, that remittance is about PHP4.5 billion a year. It’s a big problem for us,” the Pagcor chief reportedly said.