Duterte orders review of ‘flawed’ lease contract for $1.5B casino-resort

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a review of the lease contract between Nayong Pilipino Foundation and Landings Resorts Philippines Development Corp. for a $1.5 billion integrated casino resort in Parañaque City.

The order was made after Malacañang announced that the entire board and management of Nayong Pilipino was sacked over the lease contract that was “grossly disadvantageous” to the government.

In a statement on Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte had ordered a review of the lease contract for the leisure complex which he described as “flawed.”

“In addition to the firing of the entire board of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation, Inc., the President has instructed a review of the Contract of Lease entered by NPFI with Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corp. (LRPDC), which the Chief Executive described, in his own words, as ‘flawed,’” Roque said.

“It was entered into without public bidding and was disadvantageous to the government,” he added. /je