Senator Antonio Trillanes IV during a press conference on Tuesday insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte is aware in the plan of the Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment to build a 500-M pesos Casino in Boracay island.
To prove his claims, Trillanes showed a news clipping from Politics.ph which contains the photo of President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with the members of the Galaxy Entertainment Group limited led by its Chairman Dr. Lui Che Woo.
The photo which the politics.ph was originally published in the website of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
However, the press release of the PCOO didn’t disclose what the President and the investors talked about aside from their interest in investing in the Philippines.
“Kahapon nagsabi si Duterte na wala siyang masterplan sa Boracay rehab, wala siyang alam sa casinong itatayo. Maliwanag sa picture na kinakamayan niya ‘yung may ari ng casino. Nag-courtesy call sa kanya,” he said.
“Nakita niya ‘pag medyo mainit ang tama saka siya aatras at magsasabi ng diversion. His statement was an outright lie,” he said.
According to Trillanes, the meeting between President Duterte and Dr. Lui was an evidence that the government already accepted the proposal of the Galaxy Entertainment to build the controversial Casino in Boracay Island which scheduled to be closed for six months as part of the rehabilitation program.
“Hindi naman papayagan ‘yan kung hindi tuloy ang project kasi ini-screen lahat ng nagko-courtesy call,” he said.
Several days ago, Trillanes claimed that the government ordered the closure of Boracay island to hasten the construction of the mega casino and not really to rehabilitate it.
“I maintain my position na kaya sinara ang Boracay ay para sa construction ng casino. They would need the port and road network for the transport of the materials. Hindi nila magagawa iyan habang may turista,” he said.
He even urge the residence of Boracay to file a petition to stop the closure of the tourist spot.
“I encourage them to file a petition for TRO sa Supreme Court nang mahinto itong kabalbalan na ito ni Duterte. So maliwanag ito na hindi ito para sa kalikasan. Para sa magsasaka daw, hindi ‘yan totoo dahil wala namang mapagtataniman doon,” Trillanes said.
Before the President flew to China to attend the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2018, Duterte said the government was no plan to approve the construction of the mega casino in Boracay.
“Wala akong plano diyan [na] casino-casino. Tama na ‘yan kasi sobra na. Casino dito, casino doon. Give it to the people who need it most,” he said.
“In the meantime, there’s no plan. My order was to clean it up. So mag-clean, sarado. There’s one way in, one way out,” he added.
Source: [1]
