President Duterte is against the building a casino in the island
of Boracay, Philippines.
“Far from it actually. I never said building anything or
even a nipa hut there,” Duterte said in a press conference in Davao City before
flying to China.
“Walang plano diyang casino-casino. Tama na iyan kasi sobra
na. May casino dito, casino doon,” he added.
(There is no plan to build a casino there. Stop already
because they’re too much. There’s a casino here, a casino there.)
The President's announcement came as Galaxy Macau's Galaxy
Entertainment Group and its local partner,
AB Leisure Exponent Inc., stated their plan of a $500-million integrated casino
resort in the prominent island resort.
Duterte said Filipinos would not obtain anything from
building a casino in Boracay.
“Bakit bigyan ko kayo diyan ng casino? Ano’ng makuha ng
Pilipino diyan? Lahat ‘yan,” he said.
(Why would I give you a casino? What will the Filipinos get
out of it? All of it.)
The President said he would likewise sign a decree to
declare a state of calamity.
“Now if you are asking of a financial help, I am going to
sign the proclamation of calamity. And we can make available about P2 billion
of assistance but these are only for the poor Filipinos,” he said.
“I will not spend any single centavo for those inns there,
hotel owners or motels. At ‘yung magagandang bahay (And for the beautiful
houses), do not expect me to pay anything,” he added.
