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CEBU CITY, Philippines - A businessman seeking to operate two Internet casino stations in Cebu City on Sunday finds it unfair for the city government to oppose their request while approving another operator's application for the same business.
Eduardo Dagpin, a sales agent of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), is seeking a City Council resolution that will endorse the operation of his Internet casino station on F. Ramos Street and another on Colon Street.
But Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, vice chairman of the committee on laws, said he was determined to pass his committee report opposing the Dagpin's request.
Carillo was not able to submit his recommendation in last Wednesday's regular session because he had yet to include in his report the existing ordinance that prohibits the operation of Internet casino gaming within the territorial jurisdiction of the city of Cebu.
?Unfair man na ila gibuhat. Pareha raman mi taga Cebu. Kung wala mi gilisud-lisud sa City Hall dugay na unta mi naka abli balik,? he told Cebu Daily News.
Dagpin had been operating since October 2006 but their operation was suspended on August 1 last year because of the new Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. ) Charter, which states that any Pagcor franchisee should ask for a permission from the local government unit where their business is located.
Pagcor e-Games official, who requests not to be named, said they had been waiting for the letter of no objection (Lono) from the city government which until now they have not received.
But Carillo said he will oppose the request because ?it is accessible to the general public.?
?The role of the local government unit is to promote high moral of the people,? Carillo said.
Councilor Edgardo Labella said the ordinance making it unlawful to install, establish and/or operate Internet casino gaming on Internet cafes and other similar business entities within Cebu City should be revisited to find out if the e-Casino is illegal or not.
An Internet casino gaming is defined in the ordinance as an Internet based-game of chance program installed, established and or operated for betting purposes by internet cafes and other similar business entities.
Labella said the request was supposed to be referred to him as the chairman of the committee on laws.
But he said the council must have overlooked that there was no resolution made by him but only a letter request from Dagpin dated June 20, 2008.
?I was asking the council to deliberate on the request but I don't know, maybe I was absent that time, but that should have been referred to me,? Labella said.
He, however, would not argue the decision of Carillo, vice chairman of the committee on laws to oppose Dagpin's request.
?Regardless that (a gambling operation) is approved by Pagcor or not the local government should consider the moral side of it,? Labella said.
The law explained that Pagcor's accreditation of online casino is not yet part of the discussion when the Presidential Decree 1869 otherwise known as Pagcor Charter was approved.
Dagpin, however, questioned the City Council's opposition when the application of the owner of an online casino in Lahug was approved.
He claimed that the owner of the online casino in Lahug is a friend of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, which he said was the reason why he was immediately given the permit to operate.
The owner of the casino in Lahug, who requested not to be named, admitted that the mayor's family was his friend but their friendship did not have anything to do with the approval of his application.
?Yes, the mayor is a family friend but I don't think that we were given business permit because of that,? he said.
?It is a legitimate business licensed by Pagcor,? he told Cebu Daily News (CDN). ?Wala nakoy labot ana ngano gisugtan mi og ang uban wala (I don't know why we were allowed when others weren't). But if the city hall will be closing their business, I'm willing to close. But I am just a regular businessman who saw this kind of business. I applied for the necessary papers and this is legal.?
The online casino in Lahug is operating on a 24-hour basis with 17 computers. But, he said, they make sure that those 21 years old and below could not enter and play.
An attendant, who refused to be named, said the player will have to bet an initial of P500 and they can get to play whatever the games offered in a regular Pagcor casino and claim their prizes on the counter.
In the meantime, Dennis Valdez, president of PhilWeb Corp., the principal enabler Internet manager of Pagcor, said there are already 108 e-casinos operating in the Philippines.
Valdez said there are two kinds of gambling, one is legal and the other is illegal.
?Illegal gambling does not pay the necessary taxes and they have the choice to fair fairly or unfairly, while the ones playing legal gambling as the ones accredited by Pagcor are assured that the games are being played fairly and they pay the taxes and even have charity works,? Valdez told CDN.
Meanwhile, Msgr. Achilles Dakay, Cebu Archdiocese media liaison officer, said that whether those games of chance are considered by the government as legal or illegal, the effects of which has to be looked into.
He said the rich people, who gamble a big amount of money and just lose, should have used the money to help the poor people.
Dakay also issued a statement that the Catholic Church would not support the proposed online gambling project that was raised for approval to the Cebu City council.
?Gambling per se is neutral because this is used for entertainment but we should consider this with the present situation of the country where there are many poor families,? Dakay said.
Dakay said that gambling would not help alleviate poverty in the city.
?The poor people, instead of buying food for their family, would be tempted to use their money for gambling. They would hold on to the false hope that they could win,? he said.
?Only a small percentage of people win, so they are just wasting money,? he added.
The proper answer to poverty alleviation is ?to create better jobs or make the jobs more attractive to the people,? Dakay said.
On proposals to open gambling sites, Dakay suggests that the government disapprove these projects.
?There are a lot of legal gambling now but these are immoral. The end does not justify the means. It is not possible that poverty alleviation be solved through gambling,? he said. /With a report from Editorial Assistant Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
