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GENUINO PURSUES DREAMS SANS POLITICS The Philippine Star Conceptualized a couple of years ago, Genuino realized that the project would have to be personally shepherded by him given the government’s fiscal predicament. To rise on some 90 hectares of reclaimed land facing Manila Bay, a blueprint of the planned tourism, gaming and entertainment hub was commissioned. That was the easy part. The bigger challenge came in the form of competition – largely by Macau, followed by Singapore and Malaysia. These countries, supported by their respective governments, were bent on luring visitors to their mega-casinos ala Las Vegas. It did not help that Pagcor’s charter was due for renewal at that time. The big names in gaming, mostly coming from the U.S., were reluctant to invest in Genuino’s project, which is partly the reason why Macau got the lion’s share of investors then. Fresh lease But when Pagcor got a fresh lease on life after having had its charter renewed for another 25 years and getting other perks, Genuino went full blast with his campaign to get only the best for the planned Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Manila Bay Integrated City, now touted as the country’s biggest tourism development project. By Pagcor’s estimate, the whole project would cost at least $15 billion, to be built in three stages over the next decade, with the first phase expected to be completed by 2010. The vision was to build a series of individual though interconnected projects offering gaming, leisure, sport and cultural facilities, shopping malls, hotels and housing – all to be accommodated on 85 hectares of reclaimed Manila Bay land. Four pioneers In his talk with media, Genuino said that Pagcor had signed up four investors based on their approved project concepts for the integrated city. They will have to put up $400 million each before they can start to show that they are financially committed to these projects,” added Genuino. The money will be held by Pagcor in escrow. Three of the approved investors are foreign-based with extensive interests in the gaming, leisure and tourism industry. The fourth is SM Investment Corp. headed by Teresita Sy-Coson, which plans to construct a world-class gaming facility in partnership with Asia Pacific Gaming from Australia, and a major luxury hotel to be managed by Radisson Hotels & Resorts, and a museum and sports arena. Leading in the list of foreign investors is Aruze Corp. of Japan, headed by slot machine kingpin Kazuo Okada. Aruze plans to construct an integrated resort featuring 2,000 standard rooms and 300 VIP suites, a major oceanarium targeted to be the world’s largest, theaters, a sports arena and a special museum, and a giant Ferris wheel similar to the London Eye, to be called as the Manila Eye. Okada is also a major owner of Wynn Resorts in Macau. The second investor to sign up for the integrated project is Genting Berhad of Malaysia, a veritable giant in the world tourism industry. As had been announced in various media throughout the world, Genting is partnering with its subsidiary Star Cruises and Philippine property giant Alliance Global. The Malaysian group will be building several hotels with a minimum capacity of 2,000 rooms, a world-class theme park carrying the Universal Studios brand, a museum, plus a tower that will be the tallest in the world. Star Cruises, which is listed in the Hong Kong bourse, has an agreement with Travelers International, a subsidiary of Allied Global, for 40 percent of its stake in Newport City, a mixed use residential development near the Manila Bay site. Star Cruises has reportedly committed to pay Travelers $335 million. The third firm is Bloombury Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands. They have pledged to build three luxury hotels with a total capacity of 1,500 rooms, a high-end retail shopping, celebrity-themed dining, a showroom and museum, and a major entertainment and sports center. Construction frenzy Under the terms of reference signed by all four parties, the casinos should be up and running within 2-1/2 years, and phase one of the approved project must be completed within five years. Genuino certainly is not leaving anything to chance. All the bustle within the very near future is expected to generate some 250,000 new jobs, mainly workers for the forthcoming construction of planned amenities. The influx of tourists to the country is seen to triple once the casinos and resorts are operational, contributing substantially to Pagcor’s collection efforts. This should significantly ramp up its contributions to the public purse, a much-welcome boost especially during these times when the global economy’s problems pose so much uncertainty. Keep politics out I believe that there are hard-working people in government, those who can lead and deliver, but whose initiative to come out and do something is held back for fear of being tainted by dirty politics. As a result, a lot still has to be done so that the wheel of commerce will turn at a faster pace and uplift most of our countrymen from the pits of poverty. Genuino is often cited in political intrigues considering his closeness with the group of the First Gentleman. But despite all these, he has moved on to achieve his dreams and goals at Pagcor. As he remarked recently, “I can face anybody and show them that large projects such as these can and will be done without any whiff of controversy. Basta huwag lang mapolitika (as long as politics is kept out).” For the sake of the country, we hope so, Chairman. Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com.
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