BIG FOUR
The interested parties would need to tender a $100-million bond each, to prove that they are serious in their undertaking.

In early 2008, a year after the project was first made public, Pagcor announced that four companies had expressed interest to invest in Tourism City.

First was Malaysia's Genting Berhad, with partners Star Cruises and locally listed firm Alliance Global Inc. The proposal was initiated by Andrew Tan of Megaworld Philippines through Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., Pagcor said.

The group plans to build hotels with a minimum room capacity of 2,000 rooms, along with a theme park. In a disclosure, Alliance Global announced that its joint venture with Star Cruises would cost around $1 billion. Of the four groups, only this partnership has received a provisional license from Pagcor to begin construction.

The second was Japan's Aruze Corp., which proposed the development of the Okada Resort Manila Bay, a casino resort with 2,000 regular rooms and 300 VIP suites. Aruze has proposed to build what could become the world's biggest oceanarium, and a giant Ferris wheel similar to the London Eye.

Pagcor insiders say that the Aruze group would get its provisional license in two to three weeks. Aruze, they say, has found a local partner in a group represented by Ramon Ang, president and chief executive officer of food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp.

Third to come in was SM Investments Corp., a local holding company with interests in mall operations, retail, banking, and property development. It has partnered with Asia-Pacific Gaming of Australia to put up a luxury hotel in the area. SM Investments operates the SM Mall of Asia, the country's largest shopping mall near the area.

And then there was Bloombury Investments Ltd., which said it would have three luxury hotels with a combined capacity of 2,400 rooms, plus 30 VIP suites, high-end retail shops, and entertainment and sports centers. Bloombury also said it would employ 9,600 persons directly, and 40,000 others indirectly.

Yet when Pagcor accepted its concept notes nine months ago, Bloombury did not even exist as a company in the Philippines.

PAGCOR: IT'S ALMEDA
Indeed, Alvarez’s role in Bloombury was only inadvertently disclosed by Pagcor chief Francisco in an interview a fortnight ago with the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. Pagcor Senior Vice President Figueroa also told PCIJ that Alvarez has not spoken for Bloombury at all.

But the two Pagcor officials skirted questions about Razon’s role in Bloombury, which Figueroa stressed is the “vehicle of Mr. Alvarez for this specific project.”

Asked why gaming industry insiders insist that it is Razon who is behind Bloombury and who worked on the partnership with Packer, Figueroa replied, laughing, “Rumor na 'yan.”

“He (Razon) might have introduced (Packer) or anything,” he continued. “He introduced (Packer) to Pepito (Alvarez)…maybe that’s what he’s saying. But as far as we are concerned, we have talked only to Mr. Almeda.”

According to Figueroa, it is Almeda who makes all the presentations, writes letters, answers queries, and speaks for Bloombury.

Francisco, for his part, said that while he has not talked to Alvarez, he knows from the records that Alvarez is “the principal of Almeda.” Francisco also said that it was Almeda who brought Crown’s senior executives to Pagcor's office.

But Pagcor's executives offered confusing statements about the weight they assign to Bloombury as a “principal” in its claimed partnership with Packer.

At one point, Figueroa said, “As far as we're concerned, ang kausap namin dito is Bloombury.”

At another, Figueroa said Pagcor accepted Bloombury's proposal, even when gaming is not a core business of Alvarez, because, “he is partnering with a very credible group. Crown is very big that's why, for track record, we look at Crown.” Pagcor top officials, including chairman Efraim Genuino, have also met, and dined, with Packer at least twice in Manila.

TOKEN INCORPORATORS
Based on Bloombury’s own papers, however, the company seems to have more links to Razon than to Alvarez.

It is in Bloombury’s letter of intent to Pagcor that Razon's legal counsel in ICTSI, Benny Tan, is listed as corporate secretary, while Almeda is named as managing director. Tan’s name does not appear in Bloombury’s SEC records, but Almeda’s does, as one of its incorporators who put in P1 each. The others are lawyers Fiorello E. Azura, Jhoel P. Raquedan, and Allen R. Bauzon.

Azura is a senior partner of the Azura Quiroz & Campos Law Offices, which lawyers for Pepito Alvarez, who is also chair of Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. or Philphos. Azura had also served as assistant executive of the Asset Privatization Trust under the Joseph Estrada administration in 1999.

Raquedan and Bauzon are senior associates of the Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos lfirm, which has made a reputation as “the counsel of choice for the lenders on various projects and acquisitions in the country,” according to www.iflrlegalwire.com, a reputable “guide to the world's leading financial law firms.”

Almeda, though, is possibly Bloombury’s only tenuous link to gaming operations. At one time, he had served as president of Waterfront Philippines Inc., which is owned by the family of William Gatchalian, a close friend of former President Estrada. Waterfront hotels in Manila, Cebu, Mactan, and Davao host Pagcor casinos.

It is also Almeda who visits — albeit rarely, said the person who fielded PCIJ’s phone call — Bloombury's “representative office in Manila,” which turned out to be the premises of Mega Equipment, a company owned by Jose Eduardo J. Alarilla and Medy Chua-See, until recently major shareholders in Razon’s ICTSI.

That Razon has a line to Malacañang is an open secret. On October 25, 2007, businessman Jose ‘Joey’ de Venecia III testified at the Senate that he received advice on his NBN proposal from Razon and President Arroyo's brother, Diosdado ‘Buboy’ Macapagal Jr.

De Venecia quoted Razon as saying: “P...ina kasi 'yang (former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin) Abalos na 'yan. Sinabi pa niya kay (First Gentleman) Mike (Arroyo) na mayroon siyang $70 million dito. Hindi ito makalimutan ni Mike (That s.o.b. Abalos. He told Mike that he would get $70 million, and now Mike can’t forget it).”