Former President Rodrigo Duterte “encroached” upon the legislative powers of Congress when he issued an order that essentially allowed the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) to set up shop and thrive in the country.
This was according to a lawmaker who brought to light Duterte’s Executive Order No. 13 during a hearing of the House committee on public order and safety on Wednesday.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said EO No. 13 “brought online gambling to life and I do not understand why this should circumvent the law that was passed by Congress creating the Pagcor (or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp).”
Pagcor, a government-owned and -controlled corporation that regulates gaming establishments in the country, was established in 1977 through Presidential Decree No. 1869 issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Its Charter was amended in 2007 through Republic Act No. 9487.
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Both laws make no mention of online gambling, Luistro noted, and the phrase was used for the first time in relation to Pagcor’s functions in EO 13, which Duterte signed in February 2017.
‘He repealed the law’
The Duterte order was issued to “[strengthen] the fight against illegal gambling and [clarify] the jurisdiction and authority of concerned agencies in the regulation and licensing of gambling and online gaming facilities.”
Luistro particularly drew attention to a section of the EO stating that “nothing … shall prohibit the duly licensed online gambling operator from allowing the participation of persons physically located outside Philippine territory.”
In an earlier committee hearing, Pagcor chief Alejandro Tengco said EO 13 served as the “real basis” for regulating Pogos.
Luistro on Wednesday said: “There is a principle in law: when the law does not provide, we should not provide. When the law does not include [it], we should not include [it]. If the substantive law creating Pagcor does not provide for online gaming, then no executive issuances should provide for online gaming.”
“When the former President issued EO 13, it is the humble submission of this representation, he legislated, he amended, he repealed the law, an act which violates the fundamental principle of separation of powers,” she added.
The EO was taken up in the House inquiry as Luistro posed a series of questions to one of the invited resource persons, former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque. At one point, Roque, a lawyer, said he was “not familiar” with the order and thus could not say whether it was legal.
“Don’t you think the President encroached upon the power of Congress when he issued EO 13?” Luistro, also a lawyer and former professor at Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, asked Roque.
In response, Roque said that “while it was not my expertise, I will give my candid opinion, and that is under the scheme of things, executive issuances, legislative enactments are all presumed to be constitutional unless proven otherwise.”
“So the status of Executive Order No. 13, unless challenged in court, is that it is presumed to be constitutional,” Roque added.
Wednesday’s hearing was conducted a day after Roque and 11 other people were placed by the Bureau of Immigration on a lookout bulletin order, which applies to persons who are considered flight risks.
‘Persons of interest’
This was after the Department of Justice listed them as “persons of interest” in its investigation of a Pogo hub run by the company Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga, that was raided by authorities in July for alleged criminal activities.
Roque, now a private lawyer, was dragged into the Pogo controversy for allegedly helping Lucky South 99 reapply for a license and settle its arrears.
In a July 11 statement, Roque denied being a lawyer of Lucky South 99 and maintained that his client was Whirlwind Corp., a service provider to the Pogo company, which was then a holder of a valid license from Pagcor.