BAGUIO CITY – The State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) assured Bishop Carlito J. Cenzon that it will no longer issue permits to interested operators wanting to establish electronic bingo outlets in the city depending on future actions of the city government on letters of intent filed in the city council.
Bishop Cenzon confirmed that he had a recent meeting with PAGCOR president George Sarmiento upon the directive of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino and he was informed that the permit granted to interested electronic bingo operators inside the Albergo Hotel near the Presidential Mansion and the Maharlika Livelihood Center in the central business district will no longer be given due course.
However, Bishop Cenzon revealed Sarmiento also informed him that for the electronic bingo outlets at the Baguio Center Mall, SM City Baguio, Centerpoint along Marcos highway and the one near the boundary of Tuba and the city, PAGCOR will no longer renew the permits that were previously issued for their operations after the council passed pertinent resolutions interposing no objection to such amusement games in the city.
Earlier, President Aquino referred to PAGCOR Chairman Cristino Naguiyat the letter of the Baguio-Benguet Multispectral and Ecumenical Group expressing their vehement objection to the proliferation of electronic gambling in the city, attaching over 90,000 signatures of local residents citing their objection to the grant of electronic bingo permits to interested amusement operators in the city.
The Chief Executive noted there were some alleged irregularities in the issuance of business permits for existing sites and that the same are grounds for revocation of the licenses under PAGCOR’s current policy.
“Given the transparency and consideration exhibited by PAGCOR’s leadership, I am confident the rest of your discussions went well. It is indeed heartening to see that we have so many partners in civil society who involve themselves in the task of nation-building and in upholding the greater good,” the President’s letter to Bishop Cenzon reads.
He underscored that it is precisely Filipinos like you (Bishop Cenzon) who will ensure that positive transformation in the country continues and that he was grateful for that.
For his part, Bishop Cenzon expressed his gratitude to the President and PAGCOR officials for heeding the appeal of over 90,000 local residents to spare the city from the proliferation of gambling activities in order for the people to be able to embrace the right values that will allow them to be able to rid the society of the evils that continue to tempt them.
He cited the Baguio-Benguet Multi-sectoral and Ecumenical Group will remain vigilant on the proliferation of illegal and legal gambling in the city and the action of PAGCOR should be a wakeup call for city officials to have the political will in getting rid of the temptations of gambling in order to sustain the city’s identity as a Character City.
Bishop Cenzon asserted gambling in any form is not good for the people because it will have inter-connected serious negative effects, especially to those who are addicted to the same, thus, gambling has no place in the city because people need to be raised through the right values for them to be able to succeed in their respective fields of profession that they select to follow.
By Dexter A. See