A casino is a public room or building where gambling games are played.
Do you know that there is a proposal to establish a casino in this City of Gentle People?
Is casino gambling legal? Yes. Pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1869 as amended by Republic Act No. 9487, the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. operates, grants authority to operate, and regulates gaming establishments, in addition to extending the corporate life of the state-run gaming firm by 25 years, renewable for another 25 years, and prescribing the following amendments to the PAGCOR Charter: PAGCOR can enter into agreements, including joint venture, with any person, firm, association or corporation.
This Code of Practice sets out rules and guidelines on Responsible Gaming for adoption by all PAGCOR-operated and -licensed entities in authorized gaming establishments, to minimize potential harm to the individual players and the community, to prevent gambling addiction, and to prohibit underage gambling.
At the outset, it is reasonable to question as to whether or not gambling or wagering is, in every instance, an inherent moral wrong.
There is evidence of the real and destructive effect of a gambling vice upon the poor, upon families, marriages, and communities.
Beyond religious or philosophical views, it is highly documented that the vice of gambling remains an inherently-unproductive, predatory, immoral, destructive, and unwise activity that should be seriously discouraged, and should have never been promoted or sponsored by governmental, community, or religious leaders who truly wish to serve the common good of society, and maintain the well-being of citizens and families.
“Economic development” is used by the casino industry and some local governments to sell the idea of casino gambling to the citizenry, but at what cost?
While it is considered an enjoyable form of entertainment, gaming can have negative impacts on the player, his family, and the community when engaged in excess.
First, gambling is a socially-harmful (and fiscally-regressive) activity because the largest number of gamblers comes from the poorest segments of the population.
Second, gaming leads to an addiction to gambling, and such an addiction destroys marriages, families and increases societal breakdown.
Third, studies have shown that where gambling businesses are established, crime rates correspondingly increase.
Gambling seeks to deceive the people into believing that significant wealth can be obtained without having to work or go through struggles that naturally accompany working.
The virtues of hard work, frugality, thriftiness, and investing carefully are all undermined by the vice of gambling. In place of these virtues come greed, idolatry, laziness, deception, exploitation, and a humanistic live-for-the-moment mentality, the sole purpose of which is to lure one with false hopes, rake in one’s money, thus, it destroying individuals.
Gambling has also resulted in traffic congestion, demand for more public infrastructure or services (roads, schools, police, fire protection, etc.), environmental effects, displacement of local residents, increased crime rates, and pathological gambling.
To the extent that pathological gambling contributes to bankruptcy and bad debts, these increase the cost of credit throughout the economy.
We need to say NO TO CASINOS in our University Town!
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Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
