Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Catholic Church is opposed to the plans of Australian and Macau gaming tycoons to set up a $1-billion casino complex in Manila, the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Friday.
CBCP president Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said the church will oppose the project because of the social ills it would cause and its “unfair impact on the poor.”
“People are spending money believing that it could eradicate poverty or that gambling, through luck, could free them from poverty,” said Palma in a report on the CBCP news website.
“That’s why, in general, we try to discourage all forms of gambling in our country. It’s a game of chance. We should rather teach Filipinos to work hard,” he said.
Australian billionaire James Packer and Macau gaming tycoon Lawrence Ho, the son of casino mogul Stanley Ho, were reportedly in talks with the company of Shoemart founder and the Philippines’ richest man, Henry Sy, to set up a $1-billion casino in the country.