‘Entertainment City’

At the end of the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit held in Busan, South Korea, I was again left with a sense that we are being left behind by our neighbors among the globalizing economies in our midst.

This was how I felt especially after seeing our own President choosing to go elsewhere just to spend time at a wholesome and family-oriented theme park like Hong Kong Disneyland. But I take pride in the fact that our English-proficient Filipino talents and skilled workers are among the backbone of Disneyland Hong Kong. In fairness though to Mrs. Arroyo, she and her granddaughters are the No. 1 patrons of Star City, the indoor carnival located at the CCP reclamation site in Roxas Boulevard.

I’m sure arch foes and detractors of President Arroyo are thinking of making hay of the much photographed stop-over visit that she and members of the First Family made at the Hong Kong Disneyland where she flew from Korea last Saturday.

Why can’t we have our own Disneyland? We almost had one, I remember, during the term of former President Fidel V. Ramos when there were initial negotiations to put up a Disneyland somewhere in Laguna. But for one reason or another, the negotiations fell through. Fortunately, some bold and enterprising Filipino investors trail-blazed in putting up a theme park which has become popularly known as the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

I think it is a welcome innovation that the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has drawn up plans to carry out an ambitious project which among others, will see the construction of a theme park in the heart of Metro Manila.

While PAGCOR operates all casinos all over the country – and I am no real big fan of gambling – I hate to admit that their planned theme park may have viable long-term solutions to even some of our unemployment problems and its consequent economic woes like poverty.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not promoting that we become the gambling capital of the world lest we get the ire of the Catholic church and anti-gambling advocates. Rather, I refer to the proposed 10-year development plan to transform the state-run gaming firm into what PAGCOR Chairman Ephraim Genuino calls a "global corporation with a global mindset and a Filipino heart."

As part of the country’s medium-term development plan, I assumed that Genuino took his cue from Las Vegas, which has been losing clients to Indian reservations that were converted into gambling casinos. The loss of clientele and corresponding income forced the big bosses to reinvent Vegas into a family-oriented entertainment capital.

Genuino’s vision is the development of the proposed Bagong Nayon Pilipino-Entertainment City Manila project, a.k.a. Entertainment City, the first-of-its-kind in the region. Set to rise on a stretch of prime reclaimed land between Roxas Boulevard and the panoramic Manila Bay, this fully-integrated entertainment and leisure complex will offer wholesome fun for people of all ages to reflect the best of the natural charm, vibrant culture and warm hospitality of the Filipinos.

Divided into specialized areas, Entertainment City will boast of first-class theme hotels, amusement parks, shopping malls, educational and cultural complexes and theaters, convention halls, and residential villages. Based on the scale-model, there will also be theme areas such as the Tropical Park with white sand beaches; the Winter Park with real snow; the Marina Complex with a glass tunnel showcasing our diverse marine ecosystem, a Boardwalk with specialty restaurants and cafes. And if plans push through, the Bagong Nayon Pilipino, showcasing our rich cultural heritage and history, will have a state-of-the-art monorail system like those we see in Disneyland to provide a panoramic view of the entire complex aside from taking people from place to place inside the Entertainment City.

The Entertainment City, PAGCOR says, will generate direct employment of five million jobs that will naturally cascade to other downstream industries and thus put money in the pockets and food on the table of Filipino families. But that is counting the chicks before they hatch.

However, all of these plans and its potential sustainability will go for naught if PAGCOR is privatized or its franchise is not renewed by Congress. Privatization might likely bring in shady, if not criminal, entrepreneurs and financiers dressed in fine suits. No right-minded businessman will invest huge money on an integrator with a short-lived franchise. At present, while the House of Representatives has already approved the renewal of PAGCOR’s charter, the Senate continues its snail's pace, much like the other vital economic measures it failed to pass, and greatly hinders our chances to create tourism-driven economic growth.

I strongly endorse though the approval of the proposed House Bill 1611 filed by Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Roseller Barinaga which seeks to prohibit government officials, both appointive and elective, from patronizing casinos. The proposed bill even extends the prohibition to the immediate families of these government officials. Unless, of course, these family members are also government officials, but to include family members per se, I think this is too much and over-acting already.

In the public hearing last Monday by the House committee on games and amusement, chaired by Davao Oriental Rep. Joel Mayo Almario, Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairperson Karina David reportedly endorsed the approval of this proposed legislation.

However, the CSC chief aptly noted there has been a very lax implementation of existing law, specifically Presidential Decree 1869 of 2001, that bans from staying and playing in casinos all government officials, persons below 21 years old, and members of the national police and military. Sadly, this is only effective when it involves high-profile and well-known officials who are easily spotted in casinos. But most lesser known officials are even less discreet. The wise ones keep low profile in private, closed areas for the "big players" of the casinos.

* * *

Write to [email protected]