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Duterte: No plan to approve casino project in Boracay
By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS,GMA NewsPresident Rodrigo Duterte on Monday clarified that there is no plan so far for the government to entertain a casino project in the Boracay island.
"Wala akong plano diyan [na] casino-casino. Tama na 'yan kasi sobra na. Casino dito, casino doon. Give it to the people who need it most," he said in a press conference in Davao City before heading out to China.
"In the meantime, there's no plan. My order was to clean it up. So mag-clean, sarado. There's one way in, one way out," he said.
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"I never said anything about building anything or even a nipa hut there. What I said is that that island itself is owned by the government," Duterte said.
"I've said it before — agricultural 'yan, pati forestal. Unless there is a law or a proclamation of the President setting aside anything there, any inch of land maybe, then that could be alright for all those people to come in," he added.
In the same press conference, Duterte said Boracay would be placed under land reform and would be given to farmers once the island's six-month rehabilitation is completed.
"'Yung mga casino, who owns the casino? Hotels? Big ones? Who owns them? 'Yung mga mayaman, pati mga dayo. Eh agricultural man ['yung lupa], eh 'di ibalik ko sa farmers," he said. —KBK, GMA News