Lawmakers rally round Pagcor, move to ban Wynn

Lawmakers on Monday called for banning American casino tycoon Steve Wynn from putting up a gaming business in the country for denigrating state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) as part of his gambit to forcibly oust his partner, Japanese pachinko king Kazuo Okada, in Wynn Resorts and Wynn Macau.

The House committee on games and amusement approved the motion of Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone and Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez for a ban on Wynn at a hearing in which Pagcor chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. denied charges of corruption leveled against him by Wynn in a US lawsuit against Okada.

At the hearing, Okada, through his representative Masahiro Terada, apologized to Pagcor for its being dragged into the corporate battle between Wynn Resorts and Okada’s Universal Entertainment Group.

Okada is building a $2-billion casino on Manila Bay which Wynn sees as a threat to his casino in Macau.

Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing, the committee chairman, did not tackle the specific charges against Naguiat—$110,000 in hotel accommodations, gifts and cash given by Okada to Naguiat and other Pagcor officials—but went straight in attacking Wynn for painting the Philippines and its government officials as corrupt.

“There’s nothing to it (the accommodations). However, I will take offense if chair Naguiat is booked in a cheap $40 room because that will indicate how small they regard a Filipino official,” Bagatsing said.

‘Direct affront’

“We are falling into the trap, machinations of Mr. Steve Wynn whose main objective is to oust Okada from his casino firm. What Wynn did is a direct affront to our country and its officials,” the lawmaker said.

He noted that Wynn was able to buy out Okada’s 20-percent stake in Wynn Resorts at

$1.9 billion from its market value of $2.7 billion (to be paid over a 10-year period) largely on the basis of charges that the Japanese businessman had engaged in corrupt practices. Last week, Okada was ousted as a director of Wynn Macau.

Bagatsing said Wynn’s lawsuit against Okada was a response to Okada’s earlier move to sue Wynn for making an inappropriate $135-million donation to the University of Macau.

Naguiat told lawmakers that other countries were out to undermine Philippine efforts to attract investments from foreign 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 hearing.

Payback

Okada, in a statement read by his representative, said Wynn was supposed to be his partner in his world-class venture at the Pagcor Entertainment City until the latter quit in 2010.

Apparently, Wynn made a choice to support Wynn Macau’s casino complex while Okada made a bet on the Philippines through Tiger Resorts, subsidiary of Universal Entertainment.

Okada has described the lawsuit and his ouster from Wynn Resorts as payback for his move questioning Wynn’s donation to the government-owned University of Macau which Wynn has yet to fully explain.

“It was just unfortunate that the Philippines has been dragged into a controversy that is personal between me and Mr. Wynn, and I am deeply remorseful [because] the controversy managed to besmirch this country’s reputation. In due time, I am confident that their names would, likewise, be cleared as no wrongdoing happened,” said Okada.

Both Okada and Naguiat told lawmakers that a Nevada court had yet to decide on the suit filed by Wynn.

“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 chair 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,” Naguiat said.

‘Nothing wrong’

The Pagcor chairman said he was not part of Wynn’s lawsuit against Okada and that he had done “nothing wrong or improper” despite being dragged into the boardroom war between the two gambling tycoons.

“I am proud to say that since I started serving as Pagcor chair, 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,” Naguiat said.

He declined to issue more statements fearing that it could be used by Wynn in his lawsuit in the United States.

Jump in revenues

Naguiat told lawmakers that Pagcor’s revenues would jump to P45 billion this year from P36.65 billion last year.

With the opening of Pagcor Entertainment City in 2015, Naguiat said the Philippines would eclipse other gambling meccas in the region—Macau and Singapore—that have surpassed Las Vegas in terms of revenue.

Okada said that despite the controversy, he remained fully committed to pursuing his casino project in the country.