What? Congress wants dog racing in Mandaue?

I don’t know whether this issue has already been discussed here in Cebu; after all, I’ve done a lot of traveling lately and may have missed reading about this. But I was completely surprised to read an article from Neal Cruz of a national paper last Friday July 3 entitled, “Greyhound Racing is Cruel to the Dogs.”

What struck me about that article is that, there is a bill now approved in Congress granting a franchise to put up Greyhound Racing. It’s supposed to be authored by my good friends, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz and Rep. Benhur Salimbangon. The beneficiary of this bill is called Fox New Millennium Amusement Club, Inc. (FNMACI) that would operate this franchise in the City of Mandaue. Dog Racing in Mandaue? Hmmm, why wasn’t this made an issue at all by our fellow media practitioners? What I would like to know is, who are the personalities behind FNMACI? Why are they getting this special franchise from Congress when we know all forms of gambling should be under the control of the Philippine Games and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor)?

I’m glad that Neal Cruz wrote that article because it is the first time I have ever heard of this proposal. He is right when he said that this form of gambling is very cruel to dogs, many of whom are often injected with all sorts of drugs (often illegal) so they can run faster. Cruz also believes that the Catholic Church is unaware of this bill that has already been approved. But he pointed out that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is up in arms against it.

I fully concur with the observation of Neal Cruz that the government approved the operation of Lotto as a way of countering the evils of Masiao and or Jueteng, which is why, even if they didn’t like the idea, the Catholic Church didn’t make so much fuss on this form of gambling so that our people would shift from the illegal form of gambling to one that is legal and would benefit the social projects of the government. But Greyhound Racing doesn’t replace any illegal gambling so why has this been approved by Congress?

Greyhound Racing is legal in the United States because they are Federated States, but eight States already banned this type of racing in 1993. And here in Mandaue they will allow this type of racing? Perhaps we should let Rep. Benhur and Nerissa explain to their constituents why they have allowed the City of Mandaue to be the guinea pig for this type of gambling? Since elections are nearing, forgive my suspicious mind that our friends in Congress might have agreed to sponsor this bill “for the funds” of it! Come on, what has Mandaue done for these people that they will get this type of gambling?

I just hope that the Catholic Church would be alerted to the evils of this form of gambling and start a major campaign against it, especially that the direct beneficiaries is not a charitable organization. In short, someone would undoubtedly “profit” from this endeavor. We would like to know who are the personalities behind this scheme so we’ll know the whole truth behind why they enticed Congress to allow this in Mandaue City.

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I joined a meeting with my good friend, Dr. Rene Bullecer yesterday noon for the planning of the “Prayer March for Life” scheduled on July 25 at the Fuente Osmeña to pray for our country that has been hit by the A(H1N1) virus, the dreaded Dengue fever and the prevention of the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill, which we all know has been designed by Congress to be the launching pad for a bill allowing abortion.

I’ve been against the RH bill because of the deception that the public has been subjected to, especially when that group Forum contracted the Social Weather Station (SWS) to specifically target the Congressional Districts of Rep. Raul del Mar, Rep. Pablo Garcia and Rep. Nerissa-Soon Ruiz purportedly to show that the people living in those districts supported the RH bill, when in truth, they know very little about this bill.

We also need to pray hard not only to combat the dreaded Swine Flu, but also for the Department of Health (DoH) to stop spreading the bad news about the A(H1N1) virus where we only had one single fatality, who ironically worked in the hallowed halls of Congress. The DoH should focus on the more pressing problem of the Dengue Fever that now has caused numerous deaths all over the country. If only the DoH gave the Dengue Fever the same vigorous advocacy campaign like the Swine Flu, then perhaps there would have been only a few fatalities from Dengue. Anyway, when the plans are final, we’ll give you more information about the planned Prayer March.

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