Supreme Court upholds jai alai shutdown

Jai alai games in Manila and off-fronton operations nationwide will remain closed.

The Supreme Court affirmed yesterday its decision on Nov. 29 last year that the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has no congressional franchise to operate the "game of a thousand thrills."

In a close 8-7 vote, the justices ruled that the previous decision stands since Pagcor’s motion for reconsideration had failed to convince them to overturn last year’s 10-4 ruling against the reopening of jai alai games.

The 15-member Supreme Court held that Pagcor’s charter, Presidential Decree (PD) 1869, has not granted a franchise to the gaming agency to conduct jai alai games.

"From its creation in 1977 and until 1999, Pagcor never alleged that it has a franchise to operate jai alai," read the court’s ruling. "Twenty-two years is a long stretch of silence. It is inexplicable why it never claimed its alleged franchise for so long a time, which could have allowed it to earn billions of pesos and additional income," the court said in its ruling.

Senior Justice Reynato Puno, who penned the 42-page decision, ruled that then President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order 169 in 1986 repealing Presidential Decrees 810 and 1124, which granted a jai alai franchise to a company owned by a brother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

"There can be no sliver of doubt that under PD 1869, Pagcor’s franchise is only to operate gambling casinos and not jai alai," read the Court’s decision. "Indeed PD 1067-A which created Pagcor made it crystal clear that it was to implement the policy of the state to centralize and integrate all games of chance not heretofore authorized by existing franchises or permitted by law, which included jai alai."

The high tribunal ruled that Pagcor’s charter, PD 1869, does not have "the standard marks" of a law granting a franchise to operate jai alai similar to those found in PD 810 and EO 135.

"Such express grant and the conditionalities protective of the public interest are evidently wanting in PD 1869, the present charter of PAGCOR," read the Court’s decision.

In last year’s decision, the tribunal ordered Pagcor, Belle Corp. and Filipinas Gaming Entertainment Totalizer Corp. (Filgame) to "stop managing, maintaining and operating jai alai games, and from enforcing the agreement entered into by them for that purpose."

Luzviminda Puno, the tribunal’s clerk of court, said: "Only seven justices voted to grant the motions (for reconsideration). For lack of the required number of votes, the said motions are denied."

Among the justices who changed their votes were Jose Melo and Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, who were previously in favor of jai alai’s closure.

Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, who was just appointed last December, concurred with them.

Also voting to reverse the decision were Justices Josue Bellosillo, Santiago Kapunan, Leonardo Quisumbing and Sabino de Leon. They dissented in last year’s decision.

Pagcor, along with Belle Corp. and Filgame, still has 15 days to file an appeal, although a second motion for reconsideration is not allowed.

But since the ruling is not unanimous, the tribunal may still entertain the government’s and the gaming firm’s appeal. In most cases, unanimous decisions are rarely reversed.