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Monday, September 10, 2007
Korean in casino gets Davao City mayor's ire
By Stella A. Estremera
DAVAO CITY -- Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte continued his tirades against the smoking ban violation of Apo View Hotel, focusing this time on the Korean operator of the establishment's casino.
Duterte threatened the Korean with deportation if he continues to allow smoking inside the Koreans-only casino.
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The mayor also rapped the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for relegating its exclusive mandate of running a casino to a Korean in Davao City.
When a team from the City Government was sent to the Royal Casino at the Apo View Hotel, they were denied entrance because the place is exclusive for Koreans.
"Saan kayo nakakita ng ganoon. 'Yung taga-gobyerno pumunta doon para mag-inspect not to play, not to gamble. (They were denied entry) on the pretext that it is only reserved for the foreigners, for the Koreans...really sounds to me like a son of a b...ch," Duterte said in his television program "Gikan sa Masa, para sa Masa" Sunday morning.
"On the pretext that it is only for Koreans, so you allow the violation of the law against smoking inside? Para bang you brought the law enforcement of the country of Korea and transferred it inside the premises of Apo View and run it as if it's part of their country? Hindi 'yan (That's not an) embassy," he added.
He likewise chided Congressman Prospero C. Nograles for suggesting that City Hall write the Royal Casino management asking them to explain the alleged violation.
"Huwag na tayong magbolahan (Let's not fool each other)," he said, implying that Nograles knows that such violations are perpetrated inside the hotel premises since he is reported to be always there whenever he is in town.
Duterte also rapped Pagcor for allowing its exclusive right to run a casino to be transferred to a Korean. "Pagcor should be the first entity to insist on the enforcement of the law, for after all yang Pagcor na 'yan, pera 'yan ng taong bayan, ng Pilipino. The seed money of Pagcor comes not from your pockets, it comes from the sweat of the Filipino," he said.
"Kayo (Pagcor) ang nagpapatakbo (should run it) and I don't know by what legal... rigmarole if you want to call it... bakit naibigay sa isang asawa ng Pilipina (that it was given to the Korean husband of a Filipina)?" he asked.
"See to it that everything is in order that the laws are followed and the Filipinos there who are working inside the casino are protected, otherwise I am now asking everybody, who will I run after, the Korean casino operator?" he asked.
Duterte stressed that while the casino is exclusively for Koreans, it is located in Davao City where there is a smoking ban.
"Kanang mga pobreng janitor, mga empleyado lang (How about the poor Filipino janitors, the lowly employees), what happens (to them)? They inhale the nicotine smoke for the time they are there. What happens now to the mantle of protection that the city is striving to provide to its citizens?" he added.
He warned the Korean casino operator to heed the laws or the mayor will work for his deportation for rampant disregard for the law.
The mayor said he is so incensed by the utter disregard of the law in the hotel premises.
"Sabi ko nga yang no smoking diyan sa carinderia sa Bankerohan (The no smoking in Bankerohan) market applies to Apo View. For as long as ako ang (I am) mayor, ganun talaga yan (it will be like that) even if you are my son or my brother ipahuli ko talaga kayo (I will have you arrested)," he said. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (September 10, 2007 issue)
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