Casinos top Parañaque taxpayers

MANILA, Philippines – Casino resort operators such as the country’s biggest players in the 100-hectare Entertainment City have emerged as the top taxpayers in Parañaque City in 2015, the local government said.

Henry Sy-led Belle Corp led the city’s top business taxpayers for last year, with real property tax amounting to P135.9 million in 2015.

Belle, together with Melco Crown opened the City of Dreams Manila in 2014 with a grand launch in 2014. It covers about two hectares of gaming space, more than 900 hotel rooms operated under three hotel brands (namely Crown, Hyatt and Nobu), the DreamPlay indoor amusement park, and approximately two hectares of restaurant and retail space.

Aside from Belle, the city government also recognized the SM Group of Companies for paying business and real property tax last year amounting to P80.5 million for its three supermalls in the city. These are SM City Sucat, SM BF and SM Bicutan.

Another casino operator, Razon-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which operates Solaire Resorts and Casino made it to the city’s list of top taxpayers with P55 million in real property tax last year.

Construction and property giant D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc. (DMWAI), project developer of Entertainment City, meanwhile, contributed P46.6 million to the city coffers last year while the Manila Bay Development Corp. (MBDC), a construction consultancy and management firm, paid P34.9 million in real property tax.

Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the entry of resorts and casino operators have tremendously increased the city’s annual income to P5 billion last year compared to only P2 billion collected by the previous administration.

He recalled that in 2013, the city government had been plagued by a huge budget deficit.

The mayor cited the massive developments taking place in the city, which is why investors are pouring in huge capital with an estimated amount of over $10 billion in the Entertainment City situated along the coastal road of Parañaque.

He said the City of Dreams Manila played a major role in the development of the city. At the same time, he highlighted rosy prospects in the years to come with the opening of more projects and developments in the area.

Olivarez added that aside from the taxes that they can generate from these multibillion-peso projects, “we can efficiently deliver the basic services, like school and hospital buildings and generate thousands of jobs to city residents.”