Okada to pursue $2-B casino project at Entertainment City

MANILA, Philippines - Japanese gaming magnate Kazuo Okada’s corporation will pursue its $2-billion resort casino project at the Entertainment City in Parañaque despite the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s recommendation that criminal charges be filed against him for allegedly violating the country’s anti-dummy laws.

Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp. was one of four entities granted a license by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to build and operate a casino within the 120-hectare Entertainment City.

“We are in the final stages of negotiations to secure potential local partners and finding a conclusion to the ownership of land,” Universal Entertainment said in a statement yesterday.

Universal Entertainment said its fully integrated casino resort at the Entertainment City would create 15,000 jobs.           

“We will continue to develop our dream of a fully integrated resort in Manila Bay that will not only create 15,000 jobs for the country but, together with the Philippine people, attract international recognition and guests from all over the world,” it said.

On Monday, a fact-finding team of the DOJ and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recommended the preliminary investigation of Okada and several Japanese and Filipino associates on charges of violating the Philippine Anti-Dummy Law, Public Land Act, Foreign Investment Act and Article 12 of the Constitution.

Under the Constitution and Public Land Act, only Filipinos, or entities at least 60 percent owned by Filipino citizens, are allowed to own land, thus restricting Okada or his majority-owned companies to just 40 percent ownership.

But Universal Entertainment said they were not familiar with Philippine government laws when they negotiated with Pagcor under its former chairman Ephraim Genuino.

Universal Entertainment believes that the lawsuit brought by Wynn Resorts and the investigation being conducted by US authorities had influenced DOJ’s findings that the Japanese investor violated the anti-dummy law.– Jess Diaz, Zinnia dela Pena, Reuters