PH Resorts Group has confirmed it has not relinquished the provisional casino license granted by regulator PAGCOR for its stalled Cebu integrated resort project Emerald Bay, despite its main lender stating recently that it would sell the site.
The update formed part of a filing by the embattled firm on Friday following questions from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) around a local media article which claimed Dennis Uy, the founder and chairman of PH Resorts Group’s parent company Udenna Corp, was clinging onto the original copy of a provisional license previously granted for an abandoned casino project in Clark, north of Manila.
PH Resorts Group’s local subsidiary, Clark Grand Leisure Corp (CGLC), had voluntarily surrendered that provisional license in 2022 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over rising competition in Clark, with local media outlet Bilyonaro reporting last week that the license had been officially cancelled in 2024. However, full revocation can only be completed once the original copy is returned, it claimed.
In a written response to the PSE’s inquiries, PH Resorts Group did not specifically address the question of the original provisional license in Clark but stressed that PAGCOR’s decision to revoke the Clark license had nothing to do with its Cebu license.
The company, it said, “wishes to clarify that the PAGCOR Board’s approval for revocation pertains to CGLC’s proposed integrated casino project in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, which is separate from the Provisional License issued to Lapulapu Leisure, Inc and Lapulapu Land Corp for its casino project in Mactan, Cebu.
“In addition, the voluntary suspension of CGLC’s license does not have any material effect on current financial numbers of PH Resorts Group considering the CGLC has not begun operations. Thus, provisional license revocation has little to no impact on PH Resorts Group’s current business and financial numbers.”
PH Resorts Group has been actively seeking external investors to help resurrect its Emerald Bay development but appears to have run out of time, with Chinabank chair Hans Sy insisting he now plans to sell off the site. This follows an October 2023 refinancing deal struck between Chinabank and Lapulapu Leisure Inc (LLI) that involved LLI selling the property to Chinabank but with an option to buy it back by March 2025 should it successfully secure new investors.
However, after a series of previous investment deals fell through – including one with Solaire operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp and another with Okada Manila parent Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) – Sy said earlier this month that the option to buy back the Cebu site was now off the table.
“We gave Dennis a chance to redeem [the property],” Sy told the Inquirer. “Of course, they asked for an extension and we already gave them more than a year. It’s already in our name.
“They don’t have to renew that [agreement] … we’re not renewing anymore.”
Emerald Bay had been envisioned to become Cebu’s second integrated resort after NUSTAR, with plans for a five-star hotel featuring two 15-story towers with 642 rooms, four pools, 18 food and beverage outlets, retail spaces, conference and exhibition facilities, and a large-scale gaming floor with more than 700 electric gaming machines and over 140 tables.
