Thursday, April 10, 2008 Seares: Poker in the city: Who has top hand? By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
HOW did Cebu City councilors feel when a company named Straightflush Corp. told them in writing it would hold poker games in the city under a Pagcor franchise and was seeking the City Council's consent not because it was required by law but "out of courtesy and respect"?
Apparently, the councilors didn't mind the thinly veiled threat, which was, whether the City Council agreed or not, Straightflush would hold the poker games anyway.
Not unlike the brat who tells his dad he's asking permission to go out but is going anyway even if he says no. And the dad says, Fine, go.
If Straightflush has offended the councilors, there's no showing in the grant of its wish.
True, the City Council imposes two conditions: (1) it operates beyond 100 meters from schools, churches, and similar structures and (2) it pays taxes.
But check it out. Is it a no-compliance, no-deal thing or just an advisory?
Will they pay?
Councilors must suspect Straightflush wouldn't pay taxes since its president Michael Co had already written to the City Council that "under existing laws and jurisprudence, Pagcor and its agents, are not under the regulatory and taxing powers of the local government."
Then there are city regulations on parking spaces, fire, health and safety. Is Straightflush exempt from them too?
There's no vigor in the effort to defend the city's right under the general welfare clause, no showing of clout and routinely submissive.
Straight flush, a flush with all the five cards in a sequence, is the highest hand in poker. Hardly comforting to the people the councilors represent.
