In the Philippines, the Department of Justice has reportedly ordered the nation’s Office of the Government Corporate Counsel to investigate the 25-year land lease deal earlier agreed with Landing International Development Limited for the purposes of building the firm’s NayonLanding integrated casino resort.

Enquiry follows firings:

According to a report from GGRAsia, the request came after Tuesday saw President Rodrigo Duterte sack the entire board of the state-controlled Nayong Pilipino Foundation, which was responsible for signing the lease agreement with Landing International Development Limited.

The controversial 73-year-old politician claimed that the deal inked with the Chinese operator’s Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corporation subsidiary had been ‘flawed’ and ‘was disadvantageous to the government’ because it had been authorized ‘without public bidding.’

Investigators ordered to look at ‘all relevant facts’:

Recently-appointed Justice Secretary, Menardo Guevarra, declared yesterday that he had ordered the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel ‘to immediately review all the relevant facts’ attached to the deal. He moreover stated that this exercise by the government-controlled body should encompass a reexamination and reevaluation of ‘all contracts, agreements and other documents’ including any ‘legal opinions previously rendered’ to Nayong Pilipino Foundation.

Guevarra reportedly stated…

“The removal of all the board members of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation board, by itself, does not affect the implementation of the project.”

Massive development envisioned:

Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Limited is already responsible for the giant Jeju Shinhwa World integrated casino resort in South Korea and it is hoping to inaugurate its $1.5 billion NayonLanding development as early as 2022.

It previously detailed that the 23.6-acre enterprise for the Entertainment City district of Manila is set to feature a trio of theme parks and a convention center alongside a 301,400 sq ft casino offering a collection of slots and electronic gaming machines as well as games of poker, blackjack, baccarat, roulette and craps.

Operator remains confident:

For its part, Landing International Development Limited remains confident that its plan to bring a fifth integrated casino resort to the 1,976-acre Entertainment City district will be given the green light. As such, Tuesday saw the firm persevere with a pre-arranged ground-breaking ceremony at which visitors were able to see scale models of a finished NayonLanding.

Landing International Development Limited reportedly used an August 7 filing to proclaim that ‘the lease is legal, valid and enforceable’ as Nayong Pilipino Foundation had received a legal opinion from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel prior to approving the agreement.