

A total of 665 employees working at the Casino Filipino New Coast property under the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) are set to be laid off. This development coincides with the impending turnover of the venue to a private-sector group controlled by Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp.
According to a recent report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, PAGCOR, the country’s gaming regulator and casino operator through the Casino Filipino chain, informed the affected employees about the situation in December. Chairman Alejandro Tengco, in comments made on Wednesday, clarified that the sell-off had been negotiated during the tenure of the previous PAGCOR management, which aligned with the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.
Mr. Tengco stated that PAGCOR had adhered to local labor laws and provided incentive packages to the 665 affected workers from Casino Filipino New Coast. The layoffs account for approximately 6% of PAGCOR’s total workforce, as per the report.
International Entertainment, in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse in late September, announced an investment of between US$1.0 billion and US$1.2 billion to develop an integrated resort with a casino in Manila. This project entails the renovation and expansion of the existing New Coast Hotel Manila. Two local subsidiaries of International Entertainment, namely Marina Square Properties Inc and New Coast Leisure Inc, were granted provisional licenses for the development and operation of the casino resort project.
According to Mr. Tengco, Marina Square Properties is slated to take over the operation of Casino Filipino New Coast by mid-February.
PAGCOR earlier stated that they will transition from being both a regulator and operator to being a purely regulator role. This is a good direction because the current scenario puts the regulator as competitors to privately owned casinos. The gaming industry would do well with more privately owned casinos as competition bring better benefits to players.