Pokemon ban pushed in Baguio churches gov't offices, schools

BAGUIO CITY – Government and church authorities are seeking a ban on the famous mobile application Pokemon Go in government offices, churches and schools.

         Mayor Mauricio Domogan reminded city hall employees and other government employees not to play cell phone games during office hours.

This, as Bishop Carlito Cenzon of the Diocese of Baguio called on the public to avoid using cell phones whenever they are inside churches.

The bishop made the call after several people, mostly youth, go to church not to pray or attend mass but instead to play the popular game “Pokemon Go.”

Pokemon Go is the newest craze in cell phone game applications.

        It is a location-based game played by gamers mostly in areas identified as the “poke-spot” such as parks, malls, schools, government buildings and even churches.

Despite constant   reminders to the laity to turn off cell phones or put these on silent mode during masses, the Bishop observed church goers using phones while masses were going on.

        He called on the community particularly parents to teach their children to pray, worship and communicate with God in churches and to refrain from using phones while inside the church.

Vice Mayor Edison Bilog said he wants people to stop playing the game while driving or crossing pedestrian lanes because this is dangerous.

Bilog said the game lures players to areas of significance like landmarks, government offices, schools and churches and even near pedestrian lanes, roads and streets. 

       “Work at government offices are affected as players visit these offices no longer to transact business but to play the application while several government employees are likewise lured to the game, affecting their productivity,” Bilog noted.

        “Churches in the city are likewise found to be areas where Pokemon stops or gyms are set disrupting religious worship,” Bilog said.

        Bilog also cited that the use of mobile phones while driving is also prohibited as per the recently approved Anti-Distracted Driving Act.

 “To ensure the effective and efficient service of government offices, solemnity of churches and or other places of worship and safety of the pedestrians and drivers of motor vehicles, the city should prohibit the playing of… Pokemon Go and other similar applications inside government offices and churches and while crossing pedestrian lanes and driving a motor vehicle within the city,” Bilog said. 

He proposed penalties ranging from P500 to P1,500 for offenders.

        For the ban in schools, Bilog proposed a separate measure urging the Department of Education-Cordillera to issue a memorandum prohibiting the playing of the game and similar ones inside all elementary and secondary schools in the city.

Most school administrators, it was observed, allow their students to play the game inside school premises.

“It was observed however that some students spend their free time playing the game inside school campuses and some even tend to leave the school premises just to be able to catch these virtual creatures instead of studying or preparing for their next subject,” the Baguio vice mayor said.

 “To ensure that students are able to concentrate on their studies thus avoid any untoward accident, the DepEd should be urged to issue the  memorandum,” he said.

Baguio residents have since been “lured” into playing the free-to-play mobile application developed by Niantic Inc., enabling players to use their mobile devices to hunt, capture, train and engage virtual creatures in battles in augmented reality.