Quezon City to pass gambling regulatory ordinance

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte revealed that they will pass a gambling regulatory ordinance amid the planned establishment of a casino in the city.

“I understand the benefits. It was presented to me by Solaire that there will be these many jobs. There will be a hotel. The casino will be very small, etc.,” Belmonte said in an interview with the Inquirer. “I understand the benefits economically.”

“We talked with some councilors, and we came up with gambling regulatory ordinance in Quezon City,” she added.

Belmonte was referring to the high-rise gaming hub — the second Solaire-branded integrated gaming resort in Metro Manila — to be built beside Ayala’s Vertis North in Quezon City, which is planned to be finished by 2022.

The construction of the new Solaire hub is expected to begin by mid-2019, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. chair Enrique Razon Jr. said.

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When asked if the construction of the gaming hub would push through this year, Belmonte said the franchise has been secured from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) while the property was already bought from the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Meanwhile, the vice mayor said she already discussed the project with religious groups.

“I consulted the church,” Belmonte said. “So yung Iglesia they are ok as long as walang empleyado ng INC na nagtatrabaho sa casino (Iglesia ni Cristo is OK as long no INC members will work in the casino).

“Sabi ni Bishop sa Novaliches, we have to be realistic kailangan may massive information dissemination (The bishop in Novaliches said we have to be realistic, and there should be massive information dissemination),” she added. /ee