Resorts World invests P51 B in new hotel-casino

MANILA, Philippines -  Publicly listed Travellers International Hotel Group (TIHG), which owns Resorts World Manila (RWM), is spending an additional $1.1 billion (almost P51 billion) in a new hotel-casino project.

“We have invested $1.3 billion in Resorts World Manila alone, and another $1.1 billion was earmarked for the Resorts World Westside City,” TIHG board chairman David Chua Ming Huat told lawmakers during yesterday’s hearing on the RWM attack.

Westside City is the group’s new hotel-casino project at the Entertainment City gaming complex of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. in Parañaque City.

According to RWM officers, 70 percent of TIHG is owned by Filipino investors led by billionaire property developer Andrew Tan of Alliance Global. The rest is owned by foreigners.

Chua is the president of Genting Hong Kong, a major foreign investor in RWM.

“We have built 1,934 hotel rooms, with another 1,620 hotel rooms in the pipeline under international hotel brands in support of the Philippine government’s thrust to promote tourism,” Chua said.

“We built the largest ballroom in the Philippines, the Marriott Hotel grand ballroom, to help boost the country’s position as a global destination for meetings, conferences and events,” he said.

Chua said RWM paid a total of P40 billion in license fees and other taxes to the government.

“Since 2008, we created 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. Currently, we have 6,000 personnel,” he said.

Chua reminded lawmakers that in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when foreign investors stayed away from the Philippines, Genting Hong Kong was perhaps the first major investor that partnered with Alliance Global to build the country’s first integrated resort.

Lawmakers subpoenaed Chua to an inquiry into the RWM attack on June 2.

Thirty-seven hotel guests and employees were killed when former government employee Jessie Carlos went on a rampage and set the casino on fire.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wanted Tan summoned but settled for Chua when he learned that the Hong Kong national chairs the board of the company that owns RWM.

RWM chief operating officer Stephen Reilly and president Kingson Sian led officers of the hotel-casino-mall complex in the June 7 and 14 hearings.

Some lawmakers question their leaders’ decision to have Tan or Chua in the hearings when Reilly and Sian could better answer their questions, as they are the ones running RWM’s daily operation.

Alvarez did not attend yesterday’s hearing.

Chua said he had been here until June 11, condoling with the families of the victims, including those who were wounded in the incident.

Looting

During the hearing, lawmakers indicated that the victims of the RWM attack could have been looted during the incident.

Relatives complained that the personal belongings like pieces of jewelry worn by the fatalities were missing.

“This is very important – that looting had happened. Who entered the premises first?” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel asked.

Pimentel cited the story of Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, whose wife Elizabeth was among the 38 dead.

Gonzales told his fellow lawmakers that his wife’s Rolex watch, credit cards and automated teller machine (ATM) cards were missing.

“You wouldn’t believe this. Her ATM card had a P25,000 withdrawal transaction on June 5,” Pimentel, chairman of the committee on good government, said.

A police officer, who was not identified and among those who first responded to the scene, said they saw one body on the second floor with a wristwatch on. He said the watch disappeared when the body was brought to the ground floor. 

“I think many of the victims may have been looted. This should be investigated,” Pimentel said.

Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario, chief of the  Southern Police District, said they would look into the issue and hopefully identify individuals who might have taken advantage of the situation. – With Delon Porcalla