Lui Che Woo, founder and chairman of Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment, is “very confident” that his company’s planned Boracay casino will be built, despite recent orders from the Philippine government.

In a CNBC ‘Squawk Box’ interview with Emily Tan asking about the Boracay project, Lui said, “We are very confident. From the beginning until now, our plans have not changed.”

According to Lui, the casino aspect of the project has been overblown. He said, “Gambling will actually be a small portion. We expect a few dozen tables, as this is not our focus for Boracay. We hope it will become a truly good tourism spot and return to the beautiful island it once was. This is very different to what is being said out there. We don’t pay attention to unofficial commentary.”

Just two weeks ago, Philippine Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat denied any casinos will be operating on the island. This comes several weeks after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared that “no casinos outside of what was existing” would be allowed. This was in the context of the cancellation of the land lease for casino investor Landing International Development Ltd.’s new resort in the country.