CITY Councilor Maria Mylen Victoria Yaranon has filed a proposed resolution with the City Council seeking the recall of Resolution Numbered 317 series of 2016 previously adopted by the August Body interposing no objection to the request of RCC Global Entertainment, Inc. to maintain and operate an Electronic Bingo (E-Bingo) at the basement of the Maharlika Livelihood Complex along Magsaysay Avenue, City of Baguio.
In her proposed measure Councilor Yaranon pointed out that the putting up of an E-Bingo boutique at the Maharlika Livelihood Complex would violate the gaming site requirements imposed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Gaming Site Regulatory Manual of November 2016 particularly Section 2 of Regulation 3 of the said manual which provides for the site location and distance requirements of a particular gaming site. More specifically the said provision of the manual states that, “The gaming site must comply with the following distance requirements: (a) Not less than three hundred (300) meters from xxx, places of worship, xxx public markets, xxx, defined as follows: 1. Xxx 2. Places of worship shall refer to stand-alone places of worship or churches. 3. Xxx. 4. Xxx. 5. Public Markets shall refer to a market place dedicated to the service of the general public and is operated under government control and supervision as a public utility, whether it be owned by the government or any instrumentality thereof or by any private individual. Xxx.”
Yaranon then cited in her proposed resolution that the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) located at Otek Street, as well as the Baguio Patriotic School along Harrison Road are situated within 300 meters from the Maharlika Livelihood Complex which is likewise adjacent to the Baguio City Public Market. She further observed that the proposed gaming site at the Maharlika Livelihood Complex is within 500 meters from another gaming site offering similar gaming activities and which is located at the Baguio CenterMall along Magsaysay Avenue and thus another violation of the PAGCOR requirement more particularly that of Paragraph (b) Section 2 of Regulation 3 which states: “Gaming sites must be one (1) kilometer radial distance apart from each other, except when the gaming sites are located in a highly urbanized city or municipality as categorized by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) where the distance requirement shall be five hundred (500) meters.”
The Maharlika Livelihood Complex which is the intended site for the E-Bingo boutique is a facility under the administration of the Human Settlements Development Corporation, a government owned and controlled corporation created by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1396 dated June 2, 1978 as a corporate arm of the then Ministry of Human Settlement, and is currently attached to the Department of Agriculture.