Duterte orders intensified fight vs illegal gambling

President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order directing law enforcement agencies to step up the fight against illegal gambling and clarifying the authority of online gambling operators.

The Office of the President will have oversight functions in the implementation of Executive Order (EO) No. 13.

EO 13 directs the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to intensify the fight against illegal gambling in coordination with the Department of Justice, Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of Information and Communications Technology.

“The same law enforcement agencies are further directed to coordinate and promptly act on requests of gambling regulatory authorities to investigate and put a stop to illegal gambling activities in their respective jurisdictions,” it said.

The order, which was published in a daily broadsheet on Friday, also said there was a need to clearly delineate the authority of gambling regulators to curb illegal operations.

Clarifying the extent of authority of gambling regulators, particularly with regard to online gambling, would not just help suppress unauthorized gambling activities, it would also help ensure that the regulators act within the bounds of their mandates, it added.

It said that among those considered as illegal are gambling activities, as well as services directly or indirectly related to these, that are conducted beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the government authority which had issued the license for these.

No licensed online gambling operator or provider of activities related to these should allow persons physically located outside the territorial jurisdiction of the licensing authority to place bets or participate in the games conducted by the operator, whether through an online portal or similar means, it said.

But it also said nothing prohibits the licensed online gambling operator from allowing the participation of persons physically located outside Philippine territory.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. (MVGC), operator of the off-fronton Jai-Alai in the Philippines, insisted on Friday that the firm’s gaming operations were legal and compliant with all government regulations.

MVGC counsel Angelo Santos said in a statement that while his client’s principal gaming operation of Jai-Alai is actually based in Cagayan province, its satellite offices located in various provinces were merely betting stations, governed and under the control of concerned local government units.

He said company records show that MVGC’s operations have LGU permits and endorsements from the Sangguniang Panglungsod and Panlalawigan in addition to the license issued by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

In addition, MVGC also possesses a valid license from the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) since 2011. Its pelotaris and jai-alai personnel are under GAB supervision, he said.