Philippines’ Boracay Finally Gets a Casino, Years After Duterte Blocked Gambling on the Island

The island destination of Boracay in the Philippines finally has a casino. The boutique gaming hotel’s opening comes years after then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pledged that casinos would never come to the picturesque vacation setting as long as he was in charge.

Kaban Hotel and Casino will hold a soft opening this Wednesday (Sept. 16), with a full opening set for Oct. 11, 2026. Located on Boracay Highway in the northwestern part of the island, Kaban overlooks Punta Bunga Beach and the Mövenpick and Crimson five-star resorts and spas.

Philippines-based Golden TW Realty and Development Corporation, a hospitality, entertainment, and retail developer, is behind the Kaban project.

Golden TW is controlled by Zibin Liang, a Chinese national who gained Philippine citizenship in 2021. Liang’s wealth stems from the financial services industry and a leadership role with Top Bank, a rural bank in the Philippines.

Boracay Casino

Kaban Hotel and Casino features a boutique casino with 150 slot machines, 10 live dealer table games, and VIP gaming parlors. The venue is much smaller than the massive integrated resort casinos in Manila, where floors have thousands of slots and hundreds of table games.

Gaming at Kaban is complemented by an 88-room hotel, six restaurants and bars, a rooftop bar, and an indoor swimming pool. The resort will additionally offer space for small conventions and gatherings.

Licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Kaban Casino is reserved for guests aged 21 and older. The gaming floor will feature the latest slots and electronic gaming machines.

Scaled-Back Casino

In 2017, Boracay was targeted by one of the world’s largest gaming operators, Galaxy Entertainment, for an integrated resort development.

One of the six casino operators in China’s Macau, Galaxy proposed investing $550 million to develop a Las Vegas-like destination on the island that’s popular with Filipinos and international visitors from South Korea and China.

Duterte, the controversial Philippine president who was accused of grave human rights misconduct during his reign, ultimately killed the Galaxy bid. Saying he spoke with god, who told him the people of the Philippines did not want a casino on Boracay, Duterte shut down the project.

Duterte later closed Boracay for a six-month cleanup. The president called the island a “cesspool” that “smelled of sh*t.”

Genting ultimately folded on Boracay.

Duterte’s government overhaul improved Boracay’s infamously poor sanitary infrastructure that had contaminated the island’s pristine white sand beaches and clear blue waters with garbage and human feces.

While Duterte’s successor, Bongbong Marcos, has taken a hardline stance against offshore gambling, something Duterte allowed to continue, Marcos has allowed domestic casinos to expand. Kaban Hotel and Casino is expected to be the first of several small casinos to open on Boracay in the coming years.