BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan expressed his gratitude to Tuba Mayor Ignacio Rivera for voluntarily recognizing that the area where the controversial electronic games are being operated is not within his municipality but within the jurisdiction of the city, saying that such honest act of the municipal official will enhance the inter-local government relationship between the city and his town.
(See full story: No permit for e-games – Rivera)
Rivera visited Domogan Thursday afternoon to inform him that he will not issue the business permit being requested by the operator of the electronic games because he has been aware of the fact that the area where the said e-games are being operated falls within the jurisdiction of the city.
“We are elated over the voluntary admission of Tuba Mayor Rivera that the area where the e-games are being operated is within the jurisdiction of the city. We also commend him for being brave enough in not issuing the business permit to the operator because he knows that it should be the city government that will issue the business permit to allow the operation of the electronic games in the area,” Domogan stressed.
Earlier, the City Council reiterated to the State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) its earlier Resolution No. 133, series of 2015 requesting the State gaming corporation to revoke, cancel and stop the operation of the electronic games along Marcos highway because the operator erroneously secured its endorsement from the Tuba municipal council and its business permit from the Tuba municipal government instead of the city government which has jurisdiction over the area where it is currently located.
PAGCOR officials who appeared before one of the regular sessions of the City Council that it will immediately work out the closure of the e-games outlet along Marcos highway because the local government that has jurisdiction over the area where it operates was not the one that issued the required endorsement and the business permit.
Under the PAGCOR rules and regulations, operators of amusement games, bingo outlets, electronic games among other PAGCOR-regulated games must first secure the endorsement or certificate of no objection from the Sanggunian concerned and the subsequent business permit before the processing of their license to operate.
Rivera claimed it is but proper to correct whatever defects that were created when the previous Tuba municipal council made an endorsement for the operation of the electronic games in the area that rightfully belongs to the city government to help improve our inter-local relations to be able to achieve better partnerships for robust economic growth in the future, particularly in the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (LISTT) area which is being pushed as one of the new growth centers in the north.
Even the barangay council of Sto. Tomas Proper and the City Assessor’s Office have declared that the area where the electronic games outlet was established is within the jurisdiction of the city and that the area of the Tuba municipality is still distant from the location of the e-games establishment.
By Dexter A. See
