Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | April 2010 26 The Philippines T here’s a saying among civil attorneys that possession is nine tenths of the law. In that sense, the Philippines needs to be on the radar of gaming investors as the only jurisdiction in Asia in possession of a comprehensive portfolio of legal gaming products open to all of legal age (at least 21 years, in the case of casino gaming). As well as the land based casino product, the country offers licensed bingo parlours to a mainly domestic audience and online gaming licences for operators serving customers outside the country. In that sense, the Philippines gaming market can be seen as having great potential, both as an attractor of local players as the country develops economically and as a stop off for foreign (probably mainly) mass market players visiting for a holiday. Resorts World Manila, the joint venture between Genting Hong Kong (formerly Star Cruises) and Alliance Global Group, the conglomerate headed by Philippines entrepreneur Andrew Tan, is only a stone’s throw from Terminal Three of Manila International Airport The Philippines gaming market does, however, face significant public relations challenges internationally. That’s particularly in terms of business transparency over issues such as unofficial ‘fees’. Such issues have in the past proven a major hurdle for outside investors. In addition, a business model that sees the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) acting as both regulator of land based gaming and an operator in its own right is questioned by some investors as producing inherent conflicts of interest. If Pagcor has its own casinos, how can it act as an honest broker in regulating the private casino sector? That’s one of the most frequently heard queries from the sceptics. Trending ‘Look at the general trend, not the individual case’, is a favourite saying of Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and founder of Las Vegas Sands Corp. On that basis, the trend in the Philippines is for increasing levels of private investment and an open debate on the future direction of gaming regulation in the Philippines. An example is Resorts World Manila, a casino and multi-hotel project at Newport City near Manila’s international airport. If recent reports of a tie up between the US casino company Harrah’s and Philippines bingo operator Leisure & ResortsWorld Corp for land based casino gaming in the country come to fruition, it will be a major milestone in the maturing of the local industry. Yes We Can Change is happening in Philippines gaming—it just takes time, say insiders