GGRAsia – Pagcor pres shock at Okada Manila violence claim: report

Pagcor pres shock at Okada Manila violence claim: report

Jun 01, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

The president of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), that country’s casino regulator, was quoted on Wednesday as saying he was “shocked to read there was violence and intimidation” being alleged, concerning a Tuesday incident at the Okada Manila gaming resort.

The incident involved an on-site confrontation between the-then sitting management of Okada Manila on one side, and representatives of Okada Manila’s founder, Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada, on the other.

It culminated with Mr Okada’s side saying on Tuesday that he was “once again managing Okada Manila,” having been ousted from its operating entity Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI), in 2017. That year, he was also ousted from the group’s ultimate parent, Universal Entertainment Corp, the Japanese leisure conglomerate he founded.

Alfredo Lim (pictured in a file photo), Pagcor president, was cited by Reuters as saying the regulator’s board was meeting on Wednesday to discuss investigating the incident, and to ensure smooth operations at the casino resort.

Mr Lim said also that Pagcor’s “only concern in this corporate squabble between contending stockholders is that the operation is not disturbed.” He added that the regulator was still awaiting a full report from its staff.

GGRAsia has approached Pagcor for comment on the Okada Manila incident.

On Wednesday, a video was carried by local broadcaster ABS-CBN News, that appeared to show a group of people – some in a type of uniform – in a standoff with another group of people, at Okada Manila. It was shot in what appeared to be near-darkness inside the property.

Estrella Elamparo, a lawyer for the side claiming to be the legitimate representatives of TRLEI, was interviewed by the broadcaster after the video segment, and indicated the confrontation occurred near the end of a stockholders meeting, held at Okada Manila on Tuesday.

She said, referring to a Filipino associate of Mr Okada, there had been a “forced entry of the group of Mr Tonyboy Cojuanco,” with “goons… we call them goons because they were very, very violent”.

GGRAsia has approached Mr Okada’s side seeking a response to the allegations that force was used in Tuesday’s incident.

The attorney added in her comments to ABS-CBN: “While we were having the stockholders’ meeting,” the outsiders “all of a sudden turned off the electricity.., so there were no lights inside the conference room.” People described by Ms Elamparo as “guards”, then “swooped down on the ballroom, and forcibly evicted us”.