Boracay residents oppose casinos

Boracay Island, Aklan — Hundreds of residents of Boracay Island and the province of Aklan joined a rally here on Saturday in protest against plans to put up casinos on the island resort.

Bearing placards saying, “Casino salot sa Boracay,” the protesters called on the government to reject any application to operate “all forms of casinos” on the island.

The protest was spearheaded by various religious groups, including the Catholic Church, Protestant churches, business operators and civic groups.

Among the groups that joined were the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Aklan, Couples for Christ, Boracay Foundation Inc., El Shaddai and the Federation of Senior Citizens of Malay, the municipality of which Boracay is a part.

“We hope that President Aquino and the national government will listen to our appeals to reject the casino petitions,” Boracay parish priest Fr. Magloire Placer said.

The Malay local government has endorsed two applications for operating a casino and a “junket operation” in Boracay.

These include the proposal of the Cariño Development Management Corp. to build a casino at the posh 120-hectare Fairways and Bluewater Resort Golf and Country Club and the application of the Crown Regency Resort and Convention Center to be a venue of “junket operation” in Boracay. Junket operations are pre-organized gambling tournaments for foreign players.

The Malay municipal officials earlier said they were opposed to unregulated casinos but favored those limited to foreign tourists. They said allowing the casinos could provide additional revenues for the municipality.

But the protesters said the island does not need casinos to raise revenues and to attract more tourists.

“Boracay developed and became popular without casinos. We built schools without casinos,” business and civic leader Rufina Villaroman said in a speech.

Around 20 members of the Ati community marched from their community in sitio Bulabog in barangay Balabag to the Balabag plaza where the rally was held.

Member of the Ati community, considered the earliest settlers on Boracay, said the entry of casinos will erode the values and culture of the community.

“We have been opposing plans to put up casinos ever since. We want simple lives and we want our children to grow up without the influence of gambling,” Evangeline Tambuon of the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization, said.

Placer belied allegations that he accepted money from a group of Korean Christian businessmen in exchange for stopping his opposition to the casinos.

He said the parish had decided to return P1 million that was donated by representatives of the Korean Catholic Mission purportedly to help in the construction of the parish convent.

“Whether it’s legal or not, we opted to return it the way the bishops had returned the vehicles donated by the (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) to avoid controversy,” Placer said.  INQUIRER