Civic leaders for Quezon City in the Philippines have reportedly passed a controversial ordinance that would set out some of the regulatory standards for the integrated casino resort, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation, is hoping to bring to the community’s under-construction Ayala Malls Vertis North retail complex.

Daily duties:

According to a Tuesday report, one of the proposed edict’s most contentious provisions would require patrons to pay a daily entry fee of about $28.86 every time they wished to gamble inside the envisioned casino complex or, alternatively, hand over approximately $577 for the purposes of purchasing an annual player membership.

GGRAsia reported that the suggested ordinance from the Luzon community’s city council would also institute a daily entry fee of around $1.92 for anyone wanting to participate in games of electronic bingo alongside a comparatively larger $9.62 duty for eGames players.

Regulatory review:

Alongside the imposition of fees, the proposed Quezon City proclamation moreover calls for the creation of the local Gambling Regulatory Advisory Council to ‘evaluate gambling operations’ in the city of over three million people by conducting ‘random inspections for monitoring and evaluation’ in partnership with local police and the nation’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation regulator.

Divisive decision:

The ordinance is being seen as controversial due to a March ruling from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation that the city does not have the authority to levy its own casino entry fees. Despite this apparent conflict, provisions of the Local Government Code of the Philippines mean that it could become the official law of the land by July 1 unless it is vetoed by the city’s recently-elected mayor, Joy Belmonte.

Grand plans:

Bloomberry Resorts Corporation opened its Solaire Resort and Casino in the Entertainment City district of metropolitan Manila in 2013 and earlier unveiled a plan that could see it bring a similarly-branded facility to the Ayala Malls Vertis North development by 2022. The operator revealed that this envisioned 3.7-acre venue would be aimed at mass-market players and may additionally feature a range of non-gambling amenities such as multiple restaurants and numerous meeting facilities.