Casinos in Boracay: What Has Opened and the History of the Ban

GMA News reported on 18 September 2026 that Kaban Hotel and Casino Boracay opened on 16 September 2026 at Station 0 in Barangay Yapak, within the 23-hectare master plan of Golden TW Realty and Development Corp.². The six-storey building has 88 rooms and a PAGCOR-licensed casino floor of 2,000 square meters with table games, slot machines and electronic gaming². PAGCOR is the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the national gaming regulator.

Casino.org, a trade outlet, reported on 15 September 2026 a soft opening on 16 September and a full opening on 11 October 2026. It gives the location as Boracay Highway in the northwestern part of the island, overlooking Punta Bunga Beach, and counts 150 slot machines, 10 live dealer tables and VIP gaming parlors, with a minimum age of 21¹.

Sources disagree Casino.org describes the site as on Boracay Highway above Punta Bunga Beach¹; GMA News places it at Station 0 in Barangay Yapak². These may describe the same spot, but neither says so. The two also count facilities differently: Casino.org lists six restaurants and bars¹, GMA News seven restaurant and dining concepts². For anything you will book or travel to, use the property’s own channels.

Good to know The slot and table counts come from a single trade-press report; both outlets report the opening itself. For the area around Yapak, see Puka Beach and Yapak.

2017. Casino.org reports that Duterte blocked Galaxy Entertainment’s USD 550 million casino proposal for Boracay in 2017, quoting him: “I did not allow it.” He later closed the island for cleanup¹.

2018. At the reopening, a DENR undersecretary, Sherwin Rigor, said casinos and online gambling would not be allowed³. The Inquirer reported this on 29 September 2018 as one of the reopening rules, alongside the ban on beach tables and the no-smoking rule³.

August 2021. Duterte gave a go-signal to allow casino operations on Boracay to raise pandemic funds. The tourism secretary, who had earlier backed the ban, said “we’ll follow the President”. Residents and business operators opposed the move, and the report notes that PAGCOR regulates casinos⁴. The sources used here do not show a casino opening in the following five years.

September 2026. Kaban opens with a PAGCOR license¹².

The 2018 line came from a DENR undersecretary’s statement at the reopening³, and the 2017 refusal from the president as quoted by Casino.org¹; neither source cites an ordinance or statute. The sources used here do not identify a Malay ordinance or national law that forbids casinos on Boracay. Treat the “ban” as policy that was stated and then reversed, not as a legal prohibition that was repealed.

A casino on Boracay does not change the entry steps, fees or beach rules. Those are in Boracay entry requirements and Boracay fees. Casino.org reports that Kaban admits guests 21 and older¹. Dress codes, house rules and which games are open during the soft-opening period are not stated in the sources used here.