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Corruption watchdog Anti-Trapo Movement (ATM) on Monday filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to stop the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) from further issuing online gaming licenses.

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In its petition for prohibition with prayer for injunction, the ATM through its chair Leon Parelta said there is a need for the SC to issue an injunction against the state-owned gaming agency represented by its chair Andrea Domingo to stop its continued issuance of the Philippine Online Gaming Operators (POGO) licenses to operators of online gaming in the country.

Since 2016 PAGCOR has also granted operating licenses and overseen the regulation of growing online gambling sector serving offshore markets. Casino gambling and integrated resorts have become a key component of the Philippines appeal as a tourist destination with more than twenty casinos found in Metro Manila alone. New online casinos and gaming sites with a PAGCOR license mainly cater to the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese markets. There were 56 PAGCOR-licensed POGOs operating as of June 9, 2019. The key aims of PAGCOR are stated as being to: Ensure a level playing field among industry proponents; Maintain an orderly and predictable regulatory environment.

The petitioner said Pagcor’s continued acceptance, processing and issuance of such licenses is violative of the provisions of Executive Order No. 13 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte which specifically defined and clarified the individual authorities granted under the laws by which it was created to each government agency.

“PAGCOR’s continued acceptance, processing and issuance of POGO (Philippine Online Gaming Operators) licenses, as declared by PAGCOR Chair Andrea Domingo is violative of the provisions under EO 13, which specifically defined and clarified the individual authorities granted under the laws by which it was created to each government agency,” the petition stated.

In its petition, the group said there is no provision in the PAGCOR’s Charter (Republic Act 9847) stating that it is expressly authorized to issue such licenses, adding that the high court has made such ruling in two previous cases — Del Mar vs. PAGCOR and Jaworski vs PAGCOR.

ATM noted that similar to Jai Alai and its grant of Operation of Sports Betting and Internet Gaming, which the SC earlier ruled that it has no authority to do so, PAGCOR should also be stopped from allowing online gaming operations.

It added that PAGCOR should also be held in contempt in for violating the Court rulings on Jai Alai and on Operation of Sports Betting and Internet Gaming.

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The EO orders the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology to work together and intensify their efforts in curbing illegal gambling.

Aside from recognizing the authority of the PAGCOR to operate and license gambling casinos, the order recognized freeport zones APECO, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), and Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) as authorized to operate gambling facilities or give license to operators.

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President Duterte issued the order in the wake of the arrest of more than 1,300 Chinese nationals working in an illegal online gaming casino in Clark, Pampanga owned by Chinese gaming tycoon Jack Lam and the alleged PHP50 million extortion case by two former Bureau of Immigration executives for the release of the arrested Chinese workers.

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Section 3 of the EO clarified that in the case of online gambling, licensed online gambling operators are prohibited from letting persons “physically located outside the territorial jurisdiction” of the licensing authorities like PAGCOR and the freeport zones to participate in the games, whether through an online portal or similar means. (PNA)