A total of 665 people employed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) are to be laid off from its Casino Filipino New Coast property, near Manila Bay, coinciding with operation of the venue being turned over soon to a private-sector group controlled by Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp.

That is according to a Thursday report from media outlet the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Pagcor is the country’s gaming regulator and also an operator in the country’s casino industry, via the Casino Filipino chain of venues.

As per the report, Pagcor clarified the situation to the affected employees in December, but its current chairman Alejandro Tengco said in Wednesday comments that the sell-off had been negotiated during the period of the previous Pagcor management. That coincided with the national presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.

Mr Tengco said Pagcor had complied with the local labour laws and provided “incentive packages” to the 665 affected Pagcor workers from Casino Filipino New Coast. The layoffs represented about “6 percent” of Pagcor’s workforce, the report said.

International Entertainment told the Hong Kong bourse in late September that it would invest between US$1.0 billion and US$1.2 billion to develop an integrated resort with casino in Manila, a project that involves the revamp and expansion of the existing New Coast Hotel Manila.

Two local units of International Entertainment – Marina Square Properties Inc and New Coast Leisure Inc – were granted the provisional licence required for the development and operation of the casino resort project, International Entertainment said at the time.

Marina Square Properties will take over operation of Casino Filipino New Coast by the middle of February, said Mr Tengco as cited on Thurssday by the Inquirer.