GCG halts PAGCOR’s plan to lay off 665 workers from New Coast Hotel Manila

The Philippine gambling regulator PAGCOR’s intention to dismiss 665 staff members of the New Coast Hotel Manila and transfer ownership of the casino to the hotel’s owner has encountered a roadblock.

According to the local media source the Inquirer, the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG) has intervened to temporarily halt any layoffs in the absence of an authorized redundancy plan.

At a town hall meeting in December, Alejandro Tengco, Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR, notified the affected personnel of the layoffs; some of them had already received severance money.

There is no information available on their future employment with International Entertainment Corp (IEC), the business that owns the New Coast Hotel Manila and is traded on the Hong Kong stock market. IEC has said that it plans to build an integrated resort. IEC and PAGCOR have worked together in the past to gain complete control over the casino situated within the building.

As it moves forward with the privatization of its independently operated casinos, PAGCOR has said that layoffs are unavoidable; however, Senator Raffy Tulfo revealed last week that the GCG must first approve any such layoffs. Tulfo stressed that because the GCG has not yet approved the layoffs at New Coast, PAGCOR cannot terminate its workers until the redundancy plan is permitted.

Tulfo said that as the GCG is still reviewing PAGCOR’s request, more paperwork could be required before authorization is given.

In a statement made last year, Alejandro Tengco, the chairman and CEO of PAGCOR, said that the company plans to privatize its forty-one independently operated casinos by the year 2028.

Original story by: IAG