MANILA, Philippines — Alarmed by the proliferation of gambling in the country, a senator on Thursday moved to investigate the sprouting of casinos and Internet gambling nationwide.
No less than the chairman of Senate committee on games and amusement, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, initiated the investigation as he expressed concern over the sudden increase in the number of big, private casinos operating in the country in the last few years.
Pimentel particularly wanted to find out if all e-games stations all in Metro Manila and other cities were properly licensed.
“There is a need to check not only the legality of these new forms of gambling operated around the country, but their effects on law and order,” he said in a statement.
Pimentel said the Senate will also review the laws regulating the operation of casinos as well as the private casinos’ relationship with gaming bodies like the Philippine Gaming Corporation or Pagcor.
Officials of Pagcor and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), he said, will then be summoned by the committee to shed light on the current state of gambling regulation in the country.
“At the same time, the Senate inquiry also intends to look into gambling’s adverse effects on the local populace, especially the youth,” said the senator.
“It cannot be discounted that rivalries between big time operators of different gambling activities can give rise to a deterioration of law and order,” he further said.