IMPERIAL Pacific International is hoping the Commonwealth Casino Commission will not revoke its license, but the casino operator is willing to waive its exclusivity.
In an interview, IPI Chief Executive Officer Ray N. Yumul said if the casino commission revokes its license, IPI would be left with just the hotel only, and the casino industry along with its $15 million annual obligation to the CNMI government “will permanently go away.”
Instead of revoking IPI’s license, Yumul said IPI is willing to modify its conditions. He said an alternative solution is Senate Bill 22-23, which proposes to open the license to other investors.
Co-authored by minority bloc Sens. Paul A. Manglona and Edith Deleon Guerrero, S.B. 22-23 states that “in the event that the exclusive casino license is revoked by the Commonwealth Casino Commission, the Commonwealth Lottery Commission may issue two casino licenses.”
But Yumul said S.B. 22-23 has to be amended to strike out the phrase, “in the event that exclusive casino license is revoked” and replace it with new language that, in effect, will allow IPI to “concur to waive” the exclusivity of its existing license. This way, he said, the casino industry can continue to exist without IPI losing its license permanently.
The CEO said, right now, IPI is dealing with lawsuits, but does not want to abandon its responsibilities. He hopes that Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom will postpone the filing of the complaints while IPI continues to discuss alternative solutions with the administration and the Legislature.
Yumul reiterated that IPI “relinquishing” the exclusivity of its casino license is one of the possible “amicable solutions” to the problem.
In a separate interview, Casino Commissioner Ramon Dela Cruz said IPI will be “given due process for the new complaints, the same due process we gave them for those other complaints filed earlier.”
Ray Yumul
