ILOILO CITY — Developments in the well-known island resort of Boracay in Malay, Aklan will continue even without a casino, said newly-installed Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Jaro in this city, Most Reverend Jose Romeo Lazo.
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, the Archbishop said that he is against the building of a casino in the island.
Recalling his assignment when he was appointed as the Bishop of Kalibo town in Aklan by St. Pope John Paul II in 2003, he said that “Boracay is there even without a casino at all.”
“So let it be like that,” he said.
The Archbishop said that he understood the need for the island resort of Boracay to be cleaned “for the good of the people and for the good of others going there.”
“To put a casino will somehow destroy, so to say, the environment, the healthy lifestyle of the people so I am, so to say, against the casino there,” he said.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte also scrapped the plan of building a casino in the island resort. Also, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said that he is against the operation of a casino.
Last March, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) issued a provisional gaming license for the planned casino project in Boracay by listed local firm Leisure and Resorts Corp., in partnership with Hong Kong-based Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group.
The well-known island resort of Boracay is up for six-month closure and rehabilitation starting April 26.
The 69-year-old archbishop was formally installed as the 6th Archbishop of the archdiocese, replacing Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.
He was the Bishop of San Jose town in Antique before he was appointed by Pope Francis as the new head of the archdiocese last February 14. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
