PAGCOR shutters Fort Ilocandia’s casino

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—Following the “personal arrest order” of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to arrest Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino (FIRC) owner Jack Lam, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) closed the FIRC casino on December 5, 2016.

Mr. Lam, a Macau-based casino tycoon, also operates Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, which was earlier raided by combined Philippine security forces.

Lawyer Jayson Bader Ll. Perrera, FIRC legal consultant, confirmed the closure also on December 5, 2016, saying the firm complied with the order despite the absence of a formal directive.

He, however, clarified that the closure was temporary.

Mr. Duterte had ordered the arrest of Lam for allegedly attempting to bribe government officials, including Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo, and for economic sabotage.

But records showed that a certain Lam Yin Lok, Mr. Lam’s known Chinese name, left the country on November 29, 2016 for Hong Kong, barely four days after 1,316 Chinese nationals were arrested by immigration agents at the Fontana Leisure Park and Casino Hotel at Clark for overstaying and other violations.

Fontana Leisure is an affiliate of FIRC. The whole hotel has also been ordered closed after the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) suspended its certificate of registration and tax exemption. The suspension was ordered pending the investigation of Mr. Lam’s online gaming operations at the Pampanga hotel.

According to Mr. Perrera, Mr. Lam was last seen at the FIRC about two months ago.

Earlier this year, authorities conducted a raid inside FIRC which resulted in the arrest of some Chinese nationals who were accused of online gambling but their cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence, Mr. Perrera confirmed.

Over the years, Chinese tourists visit Laoag City via chartered flights and are all billeted at the FIRC.

“Our Chinese visitors (at the FIRC) are well-documented Chinese. They come and go at the Fort Ilocandia,” said Mr. Perrera saying due to influx of Chinese tourists visiting Laoag and nearby Vigan City, the management of FIRC even took over the management of the provincial government-owned Plaza Del Norte and Convention Center here.

Admittedly, Mr. Perrera said the temporary closure of the Fort Ilocandia casino would obviously affect casino lovers but the hotel offers a lot of facilities aside from this.

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