Friday, March 07, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Reynaldo G. Navales
CLARK FREEPORT -- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) would infuse P2.8 billion on its tourism-related project here.
This was gleaned in an agreement forged between the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and Pagcor recently.
Last Wednesday, CDC president Liberato Laus, Pagcor chairman Efraim Eugenio, and Pagcor president Rafael Butch Francisco signed memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the construction of a world-class casino, five-star hotel, restaurants, and resorts on a 13.5-hectare area here.
Laus said the project is expected to employ more than 2,000 workers once operational. He added that the project is being anticipated to jumpstart the development of a casino strip along Clark's commercial district.
He added that Clark has developed into a prime tourist destination after the Americans turned it over to the Philippine government in 1991.
"And since it was declared as a freeport last year, this former United States military facility became a preferred site of local and foreign investors for their tourism-related projects," Laus said.
There are now 34 tourism-related projects in Clark with a total committed investment amounting to P48.99 billion and are expected to employ 19,228 workers for the next five years.
Pagcor is a government-owned and controlled corporation created in 1977 by virtue of Presidential Decree (PD) 1067-A and was amended to PD 1869 on July 11, 1983.
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