Driven by a welcoming regulatory environment, listed DigiPlus Interactive Corp., formerly Leisure and Resorts World Corp., is targeting to soon advance the development of its proposed $500-million integrated casino in Boracay Island.
DigiPlus founder Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, in an interview, said the company has been convincing its partner, Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., to kick off the planned venture.
"They need to know the comfort level of investments here and that what happened with the previous administration will not happen again, especially since China and the Philippines are not really on good terms," Benitez said.
"I told them to talk to the President but we did that also before and I said we have a new president now," he added.
Casinos welcome
Benitez pointed out that the Marcos administration is more receptive now to projects like casino resort, which stirs optimism that the project may finally push through.
"The project is already on the international map, international radar. If this pushes through, we are not back to square one as the plans and designs are already completed," he added.
DigiPlus and Galaxy Entertainment announced their plan to undertake the multi-million-dollar project on Boracay Island as early as 2017.
They secured their provisional gaming license from Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. in 2018.
However, in 2019, the parties were pushed to put the plan on hold following the casino ban imposed by former President Rodrigo Duterte to clean up the Boracay island for six months.
