From a world-class tourist destination to a world-class gambling mecca?
Boracay island will soon host a sprawling casino complex alongside its pristine coastline, even as the government tries to clean up the mess caused by the wanton disregard of environmental laws in the area.
Reports said that Macau casino giant Galaxy Entertainment and its Filipino partner, Leisure and Resorts World Corp. are set to secure a provisional license for the construction of a $500 million resort in the island.
Philippine Gaminorp. chairperson Andrea Domingo said the provisional license for the venture will be signed today.
Domingo said President Rodrigo Duterte himself met with Galaxy executives and “emphasized” the need to protect the environment and shun corruption.
“These things, they assured the President, they will guard the environment,” Domingo said.
Domingo said construction on the resort will likely start after the planned shutdown of Boracay, which could take six to 12 months.
Leisure and Resorts World said the resort would be built on a 23-hectare property acquired by its subsidiary in Manoc-Manoc village.
Aside from the casino, two other Boracay developments were announced before the planned shutdown.
The first is billionaire Andrew Tan’s Megaworld plan to build a P2.2-billion Savoy Hotel with 500 rooms, while the other development will be undertaken by DoubleDragon’s Hotel 101 chain, which plans to build a 1,001-room hotel, projected to be the country's largest.
This developed as the Boracay Island community situated along the beaches of Boracay said gathered over the weekend as they urged the president not to push through with the planned closure of the island, hailed as the crown jewel o Philippine tourism.
The organzers said that the gatherings were intended to express sincere and heartfelt concern and to appeal to the President’s compassion and humanity to consider the devastating impact on thousands of lives and families that would be severely affected by a total closure of Boracay.
Led by a newly formed group of concerned citizens of Boracay Island called the BORACAY UNITED, the show of solidarity began on March 17 (Saturday) with a “Symbolic Switch Off for Unity” involving the entire island where almost every household and business establishment simultaneously shut off their power at 8:08 p.m. and lit up the entire stretch of the world-famous White Beach with candles and mobile phones held up in the air in silence, for a chain of lights lasting eight (8) minutes to show the government how the island would look like if closed.
Captured by drones, the simultaneous switching off of lights and sounds was meant to represent a closed Boracay, with each person’s light representing a life and family that would be seriously affected by the closure.
At a short introduction before the countdown at the beachfront of Station 2 (White Beach central) where a massive sand castle was erected and lit up with LED candles right next to “Boracay United” and the hashtag #SaveBoracay written in the sand and lit with candles.
“We raise our individual lights as our pledge to do our part in following the law and to protecting the environment.
Our main goal is to show the world that the Boracay community has come together as ONE in pledging to each do their part in protecting and sustaining the island’s future by following the law and by protecting the environment. We represent a unified Boracay that humbly requests our good President to NOT push through with the planned closure. Boracay United has no agenda other than the restoration of the island in a manner, which does not cause thousands of people to lose their source of income and jobs.