Baguio City seeks clarification on 'illegal' e-bingo outlets

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Electronic bingo outlets are allegedly operating illegally in Baguio City, prompting an uproar from groups opposed to gambling.

 

E-bingo outlets operating at the Baguio Center Mall, SM City Baguio in a building along Marcos highway have been operating without a business permit from the local government.

 

The Baguio City government has not issued business permits this year due to the absence of formal endorsements from the Baguio City council for the e-bingo establishments to secure a permanent permit from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR).

 

The local government has yet to close the operations of the electronic bingo outlets in the different parts of the city.

 

It can be recalled that the e-bingo operation along Marcos Highway was questioned more than a year ago because the resolution the operator used to secure a PAGCOR permit was never placed on record in the city council.

 

Anti-gambling groups including the Catholic church here are pushing city government to close the operation of the said outlet to avert further the people’s addiction to e-bingo games.

 

Earlier, the Baguio Multi-sectoral Group, an alliance of religious denominations in the city, launched a campaign against the operation of electronic bingo outlets in the city, saying their operations are affecting the moral fiber of residents.

 

PAGCOR officials who earlier appeared at hearings of the city council on the electronic bingo franchises claimed that it will investigate how an unnumbered resolution endorsing the application of a certain operator was used to secure the franchise even if the resolution itself was questionable.

 

But PAGCOR has done nothing since then.

 

Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan has temporarily suspended the issuance of business permits to these e-bingo outlets until the PAGCOR has clarified the status of the franchises.

 

Domogan is also awaiting clarification from the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) on the status of the operation of jai-alai used to justify the operation of “jueteng” in the city.

 

This, as Domogan said he received initial reports that PhilWeb, the online provider of the electronic games, including the electronic bingo operated in the city, has been dissolved after President Rodrigo Duterte attacked its chief executive officer Roberto Ongpin as an oligarch.

 

Ongpin has since resigned from PhilWeb.

 

While the license of Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation, which derives its existence from the CEZA, is already considered to illegal after the economic zone authority reportedly revoked its jai-alai license.

 

“PAGCOR and CEZA must issue the necessary advisories to all local governments on the status of PhilWeb and Meridian so that concerned local officials will be properly guided on actions to take against the corporations that are operating in their respective areas of jurisdiction,” Domogan said.