Vol. XXII, No. 58 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
GATCHALIAN-OWNED Waterfront Philippines, Inc. wants the government to extend the deadline for the payment of its contract to develop and operate the 235-hectare Mimosa Leisure Estate in Pampanga after it failed to secure a gambling license on time.
"We wish to inform you that Waterfront has filed an appeal with [Clark Development Corp.] (CDC) to reconsider the request of [the company] for the extension of the deadline for the payment of the financial deliverables under the memorandum of agreement," it told the stock exchange yesterday.
The company is seeking a 60-day extension or "until such time that a legal and binding solution [is] worked out with the government agencies affected." The 90-day memorandum that both parties signed in July expired yesterday.
The firm said it was still waiting for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to issue a license for Waterfront’s Mimosa Regency Casino. "We were hoping that Pagcor would issue us the license before the deadline, but they did not," Waterfront Corporate Secretary Arsenio A. Alfiler, Jr. told BusinessWorld.
He said he was not privy to the discussions with Pagcor, noting that most of the company’s hotels have casinos.
"Without the license, it will not be viable for us to operate Mimosa Casino and the whole leisure estate.We are looking at it as just one big operation," Mr. Alfiler said. "We really have to make a strong appeal. The company has already invested a lot in this acquisition," he added.
The company won in July a P1.5-billion contract to develop and operate Mimosa Leisure Estate. Last month, it set up a new company known as the Waterfront Mimosa Leisure Corp. to manage the leisure estate in the northern province.
The Mimosa estate includes a 303-room, seven-storey Holiday Inn Hotel standing on a 2.92-hectare property and a 171-hectare golf course. It also includes the Mimosa Regency Casino, which stands on a 1.62-hectare property used to be owned by Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp.
The government took over the property in 1999 after Mondragon failed to comply with a compromise deal it had signed with CDC. — Kristine Jane R. Liu
