Church seeks probe of gaming fraud

BAGUIO CITY—A city government endorsement of an “E-Bingo Boutique,” supposedly containing the fake signatures of councilors, was replaced on May 5 by a new resolution that offered the same support for the gaming enterprise, prompting Church leaders to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a May 15 letter to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, groups led by Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon and the Baguio-Benguet Ecumenical Group, said the city council’s May 5 action had cured the anomalies surrounding the operations of the e-bingo outlet without holding anyone responsible for releasing the fake document that allegedly benefited the boutique’s operator based in Laguna.

Cenzon appeared before the council on May 22 session to protest the approval of the May 5 resolution which, he said, repeated the sentiments raised in a supposedly fake 2014 council endorsement that was exposed by Baguio Vice Mayor Edison Bilog.

Fake signatures

The anomalous document endorsed the E-Bingo Boutique, citing its benefits for tourism and city revenues. It bore the signatures of 10 councilors and Bilog’s predecessor, Vice Mayor Daniel Fariñas who died recently.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) requires a local government certification indicating that the community “interposes no objections” to the operations of a Pagcor-sanctioned game in an area, in this case, e-bingo.

Bilog, who was a councilor last year, said his signature in the fake 2014 resolution had been forged. The fake document was attached to a business permit application filed by the e-bingo operator.

But Bilog presided over the May 5 council session, where eight councilors voted to pass the replacement resolution. Six of the councilors who voted for the new resolution were signatories in the 2014 document.

Violations

Councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda, Peter Fianza, Elaine Sembrano and Isabelo Cosalan voted against the resolution. Sembrano’s signature was in the 2014 document but she claimed it was forged.

The Church groups excluded Tabanda, Fianza, Sembrano, Cosalan and newly-appointed Councilor Lilia Yaranon from their assertion that the council rushed the endorsement for an e-bingo proponent.

The groups said the councilors who approved the May 5 resolution had violated Republic Act No. 3019 (the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) “for giving a private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference.”

The Church leaders also complained that the council failed to act on a 2014 objection to electronic gaming operations, which a multi-sectoral group, led by Voltaire Acosta, had sent to the council in April 2014.

Fear of addiction

Arguing that gaming operations may encourage gambling addiction, Acosta’s group had urged the council to withdraw its “certification of no objection” to the Laguna firm.

The complaint said the council “apparently railroaded the approval of the questioned resolution,” without holding a public consultation. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon