A plan by Quezon City, Philippines to limit visitation to a planned Solaire-branded casino by writing its own gaming ordinance has drawn fire from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. PAGCOR last week threatened to obtain a “temporary restraining order” to keep the city government from overreaching its authority in the matter.
Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte said the local government planned to establish an ordinance that would regulate games of chance and also impose high entry fees to keep locals from patronizing Bloomberry Resorts’ second Solaire-branded casino. The resort, planned for a 1.57-hectare (4-acre) plot in Quezon’s Ayala Vertis North complex, is targeted for opening in 2022.
PAGCOR said it “maintains its position that local government units do not have the authority to regulate games of chance even in their localities. Instead, this function is a mandate of PAGCOR by virtue of its charter.”
In a press release, the gaming regulator said if it failed to stop Quezon City, it would be “tantamount to the dereliction of its duties.
“Relative to abuses of local government in making ordinances beyond their authority, the Department of Justice … stated that the Department of Interior and local government has been swamped with problems arising from the implementation of ordinances which contain provisions that clearly violate existing national laws. Hence, given the provisions of the law, it is clear that Quezon City’s proposed gaming regulatory ordinance is a violation of national law.”
A report on the website Europeangaming.eu concurred, saying, “If the purpose of the imposition of entry fees is to discourage citizens to frequent gaming facilities, such practice is an obvious exercise of police power, and in fact, an encroachment on the function of a national regulatory entity.”
Belmonte has said casinos should be for tourists only, and she will “make it hard for Quezon City residents to go inside the casino.”
The city government “must care for the well-being of its citizens,” Belmonte added. “I would like to clarify that the ordinance that seeks to require entrance fees to casinos in Quezon City for the city’s own residents, among other measures to regulate gambling, is not directed only at Solaire but is meant to supervise all gambling operations in the city.”
PAGCOR responded that if Quezon City didn’t want a casino, “It should not have issued Bloomberry Resorts Corp. a letter of no objection and resolution of no objection when the latter was completing documentary requirements for the application of a provisional license.”
The regulator also cited a UNLV study that shows entry fees drive away recreational bettors, not problem gamblers, reported CalvinAyre.com.
Quezon City, located north of Manila, is the most populous city in the Philippines, with more than 2.9 million residents.
