Stop Cainta casino plan, GMA urged

Antipolo City Bishop Gabriel Reyes led at least 2,000 residents and students of Cainta, Rizal in a rally yesterday to protest the plan of a Malaysian company to operate a casino in their town.

Reyes said he wrote a letter to President Arroyo appealing for her intervention on the plan of Creative Pacific Corp. to open a casino at a former disco house near the Sta. Lucia Mall in Cainta.

The firm remodeled the place and scheduled the casino’s opening on the second week of this month but called it off after its management learned about the Reyes-led protest rally on Felix Avenue.

Rizal Gov. Casimiro Ynares joined the rally and made it clear that he was against the operation of the casino which, he noted, would be located near two schools.

Ynares threatened to throw the book at the Malaysian firm should it push through with its plan.

Reyes appealed to the President and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to heed their protest against the planned casino, which he said would only sow division among families.

Another Rizal town, Binangonan, is hosting a casino. But Ynares said he has talked to his brother, Binangonan Mayor Cesar Ynares, to shut down the casino, which is also the subject of a Catholic Church-led protest.

Cainta Mayor Ramon Ilagan could not be reached for comment as he was attending a convention in Singapore.