Mr. Guevarra’s remarks appeared a day after President Duterte himself pointed out that he did not require an EO to employ a no-casino policy on Boracay. The Philippines’ leading official went on to say that it was that the people of Boracay who did not want gambling places in the favorite tourism attraction and that it was his duty to hear what his people wanted and make sure that there would be no casinos there.
In today’s remarks, Mr. Guevarra noted that President Duterte gets the power and tools to prohibit casinos from working on the island, which was recently reopened following a two-year ecological cleanup. However, the Justice Secretary added that an EO remains a measure he highly recommends as it “sets a long-term policy and offers a formal framework for all government activities of interest to the issue matter.
With his newest remarks, Mr. Guevarra reiterated his opinion on the problem. Last month, the official written a letter to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat sayind that the Department of Tourism should urge President Duterte to issue an EO because it was “the most expedient and effective” means to quit gambling operations around the island.
Boracay has been one of the most popular tourism areas in the Philippines. Based on official figures, the island has annually welcomed more than 2 million tourists within the past several decades.
The island was shuttered in late April to get a two-year ecological cleanup, after the publication of an environmental review of the island back in February. The review discovered that many Boracay businesses had for decades discharged untreated waste water directly into the sea and that a number of developments had been undertaken without the essential construction permits being accessed.
Enraged by these findings, President Duterte known as the island a cesspool and ordered its closure for a period of six months, during which an environmental cleanup could be completed.
President Duterte’s War on Casinos
News emerged shortly before Boracay’s closure that Macau resort and casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Corp. and its regional partner, Leisure and Resorts World Corporation, had procured a provisional license from PAGCOR, the nation ’s gambling regulator, for the building of a $500-million resort on the island.
The statement of Galaxy’s project enraged President Duterte, who hasn’t been a big fan of gambling, and it has made that very clear, more. What followed was a new wave of his continued crackdown on everything gambling. The top official vowed to prevent the materialization of Galaxy’s casino scheme and also to purge Boracay from all existing gambling operations. The island casino prohibit extended to the remainder of the country since the President has repeatedly pointed out that there will not be any new casinos anywhere in the Philippines.
He reiterated his aims to protect against any proposed expansion of the nation’s casino sector yesterday, stating that the proliferation of gambling spurs increase in crime rates, including crimes related to drug dealing and kidnappings as well as financial crimes.
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