Gonzalez, Pagcor forge deal on Mimosa casino

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Closed for three and a half years, the controversial Mimosa Regency Casino here will reopen this month, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Angeles said yesterday.

"The casino will again pep up life at the Clark special economic zone before this month ends," Angeles told reporters.

The casino, located on the 215-hectare, world-class Mimosa Leisure Estate, was shut down last December when the CDC terminated its lease contract with the Mimosa Leisure and Resorts Corp. (MLRC) owned by former tourism secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) then accused MLRC of pirating "high rollers" from a Pagcor-operated casino in Angeles City, while the MLRC and the CDC had differences over land rentals.

Pagcor and Gonzalez, however, seemed to have solved their differences under a new arrangement which the CDC has worked out for the Mimosa Regency Casino’s reopening.

Angeles said that while Pagcor would operate the casino, part of its gross proceeds would go to Gonzalez to help him settle his obligations with bank creditors which were "non-secured" by the CDC.

"Under the new agreement, 75 percent of the casino’s gross proceeds would go to Pagcor, 12.5 percent to the CDC, 6.25 percent to MLRC’s secured creditor banks, and 6.25 percent to Gonzalez’s non-secured creditor banks," Angeles said.

In developing the Mimosa estate, Gonzalez was reported to have obtained some P5 billion in loans from various creditor banks, some of which were non-secured since they were not reported to the CDC.

Angeles, however, said the arrangement is temporary until the CDC finds a permanent private sector buyer to operate the casino.

"We have no less than three to four investors seriously negotiating for the casino and we are checking their financial capabilities," he said. — Ding Cervantes