"A not too smart move..."

NUNG LUNES NAGLABAS AKO NG ARTIKULO TUNGKOL SA BALAK NG PHILIPPINE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING CORPORATION (PAGCOR) NA MAGLUNSAD NG MALAWAKANG TEXT GAMBLING SA PAMAMAGITAN NG MGA CELLPHONE. BINATIKOS KO ANG PLANONG ITO BASE NA RIN SA PAHAYAG NG LEGAL COUNSEL NG SMART COMMUNICATIONS, INCORPORATED NA SI DR. ROGELIO QUEVEDO. NAGLABASAN SA BROAD SHEET AT ILANG RAIO AND TV STATIONS NA AYON KAY QUEVEDO, HINDI PAPAYAG ANG SMART, INC., SA PLANO NG PAGCOR AT HINDI ITO PAGKAKALOOBAN NG MGA ACCESS CODE NUMBERS NA HINIHINGI NITO.

Pinuri ko ang hakbang ng Smart Communications, Incorporated dahil ako mismo umalma sa planong gawin ang mga cellphones bilang instrumento sa pagpapalawig ng sugal.

Dinagsa ang numero ng CALVENTO FILES ng mga text messages at pati na rin sa telepono. Iisa ang laman ng kanilang mensahe. Tutol sila sa gagawin ng PAGCOR na text gambling.

Tumawag sa telepono si Edward "Dodie" King, PR Director ng Pagcor. Sinabi niya "misleading and inaccurate" ang mga sinasabi nitong si Dr. Quevedo.

Hindi raw totoo na maglulunsad ng text gambling ang Pagcor, bagkus, gusto nilang talagang irregulate ang lahat ng mga game shows sa telebisyon at mga larong kung saan game of chance, ang mechanics. Pinalulusutan daw ang gobierno ng 20% tax sa bawat entry na ipinadadala sa pamamagitan ng text messaging.

"Mr. Calvento, if you would recall, game shows have proliferated, gaya ng "GAME KA NA BA" wher millions of televiewers participate. These go unchecked and not regulated. Our government is deprived of the 20% tax that is should get. I do not understand what Dr. Quevedo is talking about. Smart Communication is not willing to give us access numbers for the simple reason that we have no idea how big the market is," mariing pahayag ni King.

Seryoso ang binitiwang salita nitong si Dodie King. Kung susuriin natin, ang hindi pagpayag ng Smart Communications, ay hindi sa kadahilanang nais nilang pangalagaan ang ating mga kabataan. Kundi, para umiwas sa buwis na 20% na dapat ibigay sa gobierno.

"We really would like to regulate it by asking the National Telecommunications Commission to give us those access numbers so all text entries could be monitored for proper taxation," dagdag pa ni King.

Para lubusang maintindihan natin ang tugon ng Pagcor sa isyung ito, nais kong ilathala ang kanilang liham na ipinadala via email sa akin.

"The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) denied yesterday that it had any plans of starting its own text-based gaming operations. It stressed that its purpose in applying for access numbers from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is to use these numbers in regulating and monitoring text-based games, which may be classified as games of chance.

Responding to the statements of Smart Communications through its legal counsel, Dr. Rogelio Quevedo, PAGCOR PR director Dodie King explained that PAGCOR’s objective is to "regulate and monitor existing and future game shows which utilize text-based technology facilitated through the telecom providers."

"Some game shows which use Short Messaging Service (SMS) technology, as well as text-based games and sales promotions offered by cellphone operators, are believed to have elements of wagering. Hence, they should be subjected to PAGCOR supervision," King said.

"We applied for the access numbers so that when the time comes that these text games, promotions and game shows are finally classified as such, we can centralize these through our numbers and monitor their operations," he explained.

In 2002, PAGCOR signed an agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Movie & Television Review and Classification Board to jointly regulate sales promotions using SMS or text-based

Under the agreement, PAGCOR is tasked to "regulate and prohibit schemes found to be gambling." And since text-based games, game shows and other sales promotions with wagering schemes fall under the jurisdiction of PAGCOR, they shall also be subjected to any government tax required by law."

KUNG TOTOO NGA ITO, HINDI PALA KAPURI-PURI ANG SINASABI NG SMART COMMUNICATIONS. HINDI PALA ANG KAPAKANAN NG ATING MGA ANAK ANG KANILANG INIISIP. KURYENTE PALA ITONG MGA PAHAYAG NITONG DR. QUEVEDA. ANO NAMAN ANG REAKSYON NG SMART DITO?

Para sa anumang comments o reactions, maari kayong magtext sa 09213263166.