Halt in renewal of e-bingo business permits backed

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio Domogan expressed support to a proposed resolution filed by Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda for a halt in the renewal of the business permits for electronic bingo (e-bingo) operations in the city.

“I have no objection to the resolution and the councilor should immediately file it so it can be taken up by the city council,” the mayor told a media forum last week. Tabanda, in her proposal, sought “to require the City Permits and Licensing Office and the City Treasurer’s Office not to process any renewal of permit for e-bingo operations in the City of Baguio, unless and until there is an official City Council action interposing no objection (to the same).”

She disclosed that the permits office issued three e-bingo permits in various locations in the city and the issuance was apparently based on city council resolutions that were not acted upon by the body.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) guidelines state that an e-bingo joint may only be allowed to operate in a locality if there is a resolution or certification or letter of no objection to be issued by the city or municipal council.

Tabanda said that in the case of the application for permit of one Rafael Tabora to put up an e-bingo outlet at the Centerpoint Plaza in Bakakeng Central, there was an attached resolution interposing no objection signed by several councilors.

  “The said ‘Resolution’ was never approved in the City Council, nor was it even submitted for inclusion in the matters received by the City Secretary. In fact, there was no Council session on March 25, 2014, a Tuesday, the day said “Resolution” was allegedly adopted,” Tabanda said.

“The alleged ‘Resolution’ therefore cannot be considered an official act of the City Council. At most, it is merely an expression of the opinion of the individual Councilors,” she added.

In fact she said the application of Tabora and that of one Romeo H. Chong, President, RCC Global Entertainment, Inc. “remain unacted upon up to the present, as the matters were never reported out for deliberation by the City Council.”

Tabanda said, “It is a declared policy that the City Government is against all forms of gambling, in accordance with its vision of a family- friendly city.”

“The renewal of the business permits for e bingo operations in the city without the requisite official City Council action may be sufficient grounds for the filing of administrative charges against the persons involved,” she added.