The Philippine government said on Thursday that it envisions a gaming industry patterned after Las Vegas, which has successfully made it a component of family- oriented tourism, in its bid to secure 10 percent of the world's gaming business.

Edwin Lacierda, spokesman of the Aquino administration, made the remarks when asked if the administration was comfortable with the gaming industry as among the country's engines of growth, as espoused by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Cristino Naguiat Jr. at the recent ASEAN Finance Ministers Investors Seminar in Hong Kong.

He said the idea behind Pagcor's "Entertainment City," which has already attracted foreign and local investors, "is that it's beyond gaming."

"We're trying to develop a situation where we can pattern Las Vegas, where it is not only devoted to gaming per se. We can have the entire family brought in and enjoy the amenities of a family vacation. That's the idea specifically of Chairman Naguiat when it comes to the Entertainment City. We're changing the...landscape," Lacierda said.

He said that the focus of the Entertainment City would not just be casinos, but resort-type facilities that would cater to families.

"It involves the whole family going on a vacation while the adults are playing in the casinos. The children could go around and be entertained as well with the various theme parks or whatever rides that they are proposing. That's the idea of the Entertainment City," Lacierda said.

Asked about the possible moral questions to be raised in having gaming as one of the country's main engines of economic growth, Lacierda said that all the existing rules on gaming would be observed such as keeping minors out of casinos and building them at the required distance from schools and churches, among others.

Naguiat had said at the Hong Kong forum that the Philippines is targeting 10 percent of the world's gaming business, which he believed would be "achievable." Endi

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