Monday, August 06, 2007 Church says no way to new casino pitch
THE Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese shot down Sunday Vice Mayor Vicente Emano's latest casino pitch, saying it would still cause moral degradation even if it is confined to foreigners.
The former mayor has been pushing for the establishment of a commercial gambling facility in Cagayan de Oro, though he remains cautious about it because of the Roman Catholic’s opposition to gambling.
But seeking to soften the Church's stance against it, Emano early this week said casinos--if ever one is built here--would only be made exclusive to foreign nationals.
Emano's proposal, however, got short shrift from Monsignor Rey Monsanto, the local Archdiocese spokesman, who said casinos are still gambling dens--even if they would exclusively cater to foreigners.
"It's still a gambling den; and gambling invites moral degradation," Monsanto said.
He added: In principle, the Church is opposed to any kind of gambling. Even if you would restrict it to foreign nationals, but the Church's moral teachings are not only for us (Filipinos), but also for people of other races."
A few years back during Emano's nine-year term as mayor, a group of businessmen attempted to put up a gambling facility in one of the city's hotels but failed due to strong Church-led opposition.
Emano sought to justify his support of casinos to the economic benefits it will bring to the city, not only on job creation but also on the tourism aspect.
Recently, the vice mayor said he was again consulted by several Korean businessmen about the possibility of opening a casino in the Korean-operated Hotel Koresco.
Prior to this, Emano said he raised anew this proposal to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her recent visit to the city for the Mindanao peace and order summit.
Emano said the President told him that she supports it provided that it has approval from the Catholic archdiocese.
Earlier, Emano proposed that only those who can afford to pay the "show money" fee can be allowed to play in the casino and prevent poor people from gambling there.
"That was one of the arguments, that a casino is supposed to corrupt the poor but only the rich will be allowed to play in the casino," Emano said.
He said Mayor Constantino Jaraula also voiced his support to the opening of a casino in the city.
"Foreign tourists don't have anything to do in the evenings and rather than spend time and then be robbed in some place, they can gamble in a secure casino," Emano explained. (Danilo V. Adorador III with a report from Stephen Capillas)
