Leading local junket operator Suncity Group has allegedly made political donations in the amount of 150 million pesos (MOP25.7 million/US$3.21 million) to popular Philippines presidential candidate Grace Poe – which purportedly violates its election laws. Philippines newspaper The Tribune Daily reported yesterday that it has obtained documents indicating that Ms. Poe’s campaign has accepted 150 million pesos in political donations from a company called Sun City Holiday Resort controlled by the Macau junket group. According to the report, Suncity’s campaign contributions to the Philippine senator comprise three cash vouchers issued in 2015, one of which, amounting to 50 million pesos, carried the candidate’s ‘discernible signature’. Denial However, the female presidential candidate denied to Philippine media yesterday that she had received such political donations from the junket operator, nor had she signed the voucher. “The document they are releasing is not true. You know, I’m just holding myself back but I think they should be held liable for what they’re doing,” another Philippine news outlet Sun Star Manila quoted Ms. Poe as saying. “But yes; this is a campaign and they want to do that. It is distressing that some of those who are releasing [such claims] are professors. Why would I do that? First of all, it is very clear in the law. I am not receiving such,” she said, adding, “It is easy to get another document for signature. It is not real”. The Tribune Daily alleged in its report that the donations from Suncity to the Philippine presidential candidate may have violated the country’s two laws; namely, the Corporation Code and the Omnibus Election Code, which both ban companies from making donations for election purposes. Suncity Philippines presence According to the Daily Tribune, ‘Sun City Group is also trying to establish a strong foothold in the local gaming industry as the company said it plans to expand its VIP room presence in Solaire and City of Dreams’. Suncity, owned by Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, has been described by investment analysts as Macau’s largest aggregator of VIP junket operations judged by annual chip turnover. Having set its foot in the Southeast Asian country last May, the junket owns at least six VIP rooms in the Philippines, including two in the City of Dreams Manila; three in Solaire, Manila, and another in Cagayan, according to its official website.
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