Asks for contempt citation
A corruption watchdog group in the Philippines has filed a petition to the Supreme Court asking it to cite the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for contempt over its regulation of online gambling.
The Anti-Trapo Movement says PAGCOR ignored the 2004 Supreme Court ruling that said the state-run regulator had no standing to regulate the online gaming industry.
In a statement, Anti-Trapo leader Leon Estrella Peralta said PAGCOR “made their own interpretation of the PAGCOR charter and arrogated upon themselves the powers to administer online gaming in the country.” Peralta said PAGCOR is in violation of Presidential Decree 1869 and Republic Act 9487, which outline the regulator’s roles and responsibilities.
PAGCOR has argued that the 1869 decree specifies that jai alai as the only game outside its jurisdiction, reported the Philippine Inquirer.
“If it were really the intention of congress to exclude internet gaming, then it would have expressly included the latter in the exclusion,” PAGCOR said.
Peralta countered that the phrase “except jai alai” does not appear in the original version of the decree, which dates back to 1982, when the internet did not exist in any widespread form.
Peralta says only the Cagayan Economic Zone and Freeport Authority and the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority are legally allowed to regulate online gaming. He accused PAGCOR of illegally “interpreting and implementing the law” and added that the Supreme Court is the “true agency of the government with the authority to interpret the law.”
