Okada Manila to open December 21 (promise)

Kazuo Okada’s new Philippine resort casino Okada Manila will open on December 21, becoming the third integrated resort to launch in Manila’s Entertainment City gaming zone.

On Thursday, Okada’s local partner, businessman Antonio Cojuangco, confirmed the December 21 date during an interview at the Pilipinas Conference in Manila. The oft-delayed property had promised a soft-opening last month but “worse-than-expected weather conditions” forced the launch to be pushed back a month.

Okada’s Universal Entertainment raised another $200m last month to ensure the timely completion of the $2.4b Okada Manila project. The Standard claimed that 18k workers were striving to make sure Okada doesn’t have to play the Grinch this Christmas by announcing another delay.

Okada Manila will join Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino and Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams Manila in Entertainment City. The fourth and final project, Travellers International’s West Side City Resorts World, won’t arrive until 2020 at the earliest.