Rival countries out to stop Philippines from attracting casino investments—Pagcor chief

Pagcor chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. told lawmakers that other countries were out to undermine the Philippines from gaining any headway in attracting investments from casino companies.

“The success of the Philippines in this endeavor will have an effect on global players. It is but natural to expect that they will put us down, by all means necessary, including underrating our capabilities as well as besmirching our reputation as a country and as a people,” said Naguiat in his opening statement at the House committee on games and amusement hearing.

Naguiat was referring to Steve Wynn’s lawsuit against his estranged partner Kazuo Okada where Naguiat has been dragged as among the Pagcor officials who allegedly received bribes from the Japanese pachinko king since 2008.

Okada, in a statement read by his representative, said that Wynn was supposed to be his partner in his world-class venture at the Pagcor Entertainment City until he quit in 2010. Apparently, Wynn made a choice to support Wynn Entertainment’s casino complex in Macau while Okada made a bet on the Philippines through Tiger Resorts. Okada has described the lawsuit forcing his ouster from Wynn Entertainment as payback for Okada’s move questioning Wynn’s donation to the state-owned University of Macau.

“It is quite unfortunate that the report being quoted by media unfairly declares that corruption is deeply ingrained in the Philippines, particularly in the gaming industry. It was during my time as chairman of Pagcor that all anomalies pervading in the agency were exposed and transparency restored. It was during my tenure that Pagcor achieved record-breaking revenues,” said Naguiat.

Naguiat stressed that he was not part of Wynn’s lawsuit versus Okada and that he has done “nothing wrong or improper” despite being dragged into boardroom war between the two.

“I am proud to say that since I started serving as Pagcor Chairman, I have not strayed away from the straight path that our President is leading us to. I promise that I will follow this as long as I am in service,” said Naguiat.

Naguiat refused to make any more statement fearing that it could be used by Wynn in his pending lawsuit in the US.