Beginning the Bay of Dreams
June 14, 2007 at 2:16 am 3 comments
The Manila Standard Today is reporting that a proposed tourism and gambling complex has gotten an endorsement from the Department of Tourism. Not that the endorsement has a big sway in the grand scheme of things . . . It only means that the project proponents are moving forward with plans to turn about 200 hectares of reclaimed land in Manila Bay into a gambling mecca, actively pushing on all fronts to make the dream a reality.
The anchor to all this is a Pagcor board approval to put up a casino in the complex. Without a Pagcor casino, there’s no attraction to bring in the tourists and no gaming margins to pay for the luxury hotels. And those nice architectural plans and scale models being showcased in Pagcor offices will remain just that.
Manila Bay Tourism and Leisure Corp., a local company identified with Manila Bay Development Corp. and publicly listed online gaming firm PhilWeb Corp., has proposed to build a world-class shopping center, restaurant, hotel, entertainment facilities and casino within the Aseana Business Park in Parañaque City.
Manila Bay Development is the original proponent of a project to transform a 43-hectare property in Parañaque into a tourist-oriented complex. It is owned by businessman Jacinto Ng Sr., chairman of Asia United Bank and Republic Biscuits Corp. and a close friend of deposed President Joseph Estrada.
PhilWeb, which started as an oil exploration company in 1969, is now mainly involved in Internet gaming. It is identified with investment banker and former trade minister Roberto Ongpin. . . . The Philippine Reclamation Authority, formerly Public Estates Authority, said the project would be located within the planned Pagcor Entertainment City at Aseana Business Park.
The 204-hectare Aseana Business Park, located along the shoreline of Manila Bay, extending northeast to Roxas Boulevard, is envisioned to be the new central business district of Parañaque.
Pagcor plans to develop at least 40 hectares within Aseana Park into an entertainment and gaming center, near the proposed Bagong Nayong Pilipino, which will cover at least 15 hectares. The corporate communications division of Pagcor said it had not yet signed any partnership with a local private investor, like Manila Bay Tourism.
Entry filed under: ALL, Asia, Gambling, Legal/Law, Pagcor, PhilWeb.
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Games, Chances, Odds 
1.
Stan the Man | June 26, 2007 at 2:58 am
Thank you for the update. I have a question. What is this place going to actually be called? I’ve seen
Pagcor City
Pagcor Entertainment City
Pagcor E City
Entertainment City Manila
Do you know what the official name will be?
2.
Gaming Web | June 29, 2007 at 2:27 am
Good observation, Stan the Man. I wish Pagcor, the sponsor of this project, would be consistent and stick to one name.
Since the grand plan calls for the new city to cover an 800-hectare area (of which only a portion is actually reclaimed), and it will take decades to finish the whole thing, my guess is we’ll probably end up just referring to specific buildings, i.e. “Let’s meet at the XXX complex there in Manila Bay.”
3.
Pinoy Gambler | June 29, 2007 at 4:19 am
guys, if and when we pull this off – those Asian junkets to Las Vegas will be diverted to Manila, the Philippines. That’s billions of dollars dudes. But for the Philippines to pull off this mammoth of a project – it is necessary to employ managers with professional will power and brain power; people and firms who have built Las Vegas and Macau. If they do this piecemeal, like one facility at a time, it will be boring.