CAGAYAN City Councilor Leon Gan called on Mayor Oscar Moreno to look into why some illegal lotto operators managed to secure business permits.
Gan said he knows of some illegal lotto operators who were able to secure business permits from the city in 2013 which prompted the then committee on games and amusement to call for a probe on why this was so.
"Naay business permits gihatag ang city sa time ni Mayor Moreno. Sa time ni Mayor Dongkoy dili ko katubag kay dili ko familiar kung naa na ba na ga mga operators(During the term of Mayor Moreno, the City Hall issued a business permits but during the time of Mayor Dongkoy I can’t tell since I am not familiar if there was that kind of operators already,” Gan said.
But Gan said he is unsure if, when they applied for business permits, the City Government was aware that these operators were not authorized by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to operate lotto outlets.
"Dili ko katubag if aware ba ang city sa illegal operators dapat mangayo sila certification sa PCSO (I can't answer if the City Hall is aware of the illegal operators, they should ask for cerfication from PCSO)," Gan added.
The councilor said they had summoned the City Treasurers Office (CTO) in 2013 to explain to the committee on games and amusement why some operators were able to secure business permits from City Hall.
"Ang tubag sa city treasurers sauna kay kompleto daw og requirements mao obligado sila mohatag sa permit. Among gikwestyon ngano nga makompleto nga illegal man (The City Treasurers answered, the applicants have complete requirements that’s why they were obliged to issue the permit. We then ask why were they complete if they they were operating in illegal)," Gan said.
Gan also dared Moreno to implement and enforce existing laws and ordinances related to illegal gambling.
"Atong hagiton ang kadagkoan sa City Hall nga i-implement ang balaod aron masumpo ang illegal gambling. Kompleto na ta sa balaod kulang lang ta sa enforcement," Gan said.
City Treasurer Glen Bañez, for his part, belied Gan's claims and said the CTO had never issued a business permit to any illegal lotto operator.
"Wala kaming inapprove na application ng mga lotto operations (We did not approved any application for lotto operations)," Bañez said.
Bañez said lotto operators claim they were exempted from securing the regular business permits as they were authorized PCSO agents.
Bañez added Gan should identify the so-called illegal lotto operators since legal lotto operators have not secured business permits from the city.
"I am returning back the question to Councilor Gan who specifically are the illegal operators," Bañez said.
Councilor Teodulfo Lao, meanwhile, said a government official who tolerates or protects illegal gambling operations could be held liable under the anti-gambling law.
rLao also said illegal gambling operators cannot in any way hide the nature of their business as the City Treasurer's Office routinely conducts actual inspections before the permits are issued.
"Dili mahitabo nga makalusto nang illegal kay i-scrutinize kana sa city treasuer ang ilang application naay actual inspection aron i-verify kung mao ba gayud nga business ilang gi-applayan (It will never happen that illegal operators can pass since the City Treasures office will conduct an actual inspection to verify if the applicant is really applying for the right business),"Lao said.