Church frowns over e-bingo

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  — The Catholic Church had maintained its stand that any form of gambling deprives the poor of their scarce resources by betting in the numbers games with the false hope of getting more money in return.

Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso declared that even legalized gambling should never be made a way of making a living. He said the Church has been appealing to the government to shun itself from gambling investors.

The Church’s statement came after the reported revival of talks between the government and the three private groups—JA Gambling, Bingo Pavillion and Limketkai Group—on establishing electronic bingo, or e-bingo, in this capital city of Bohol.

Father Val Pinlac said projecting gambling as a means to help others is contradictory because it already deprived the poor of their meager funds. Legalized gambling, even those initiated by PAGCOR, takes away the little that poor people have through loses on their bets, he said.

The Church has upheld righteous or honest means of livelihood, through hard work, said Pinlac, as he discouraged people from relying on gambling for “easy” money to improve their lives.

Even if it has been seeking assistance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and PAGCOR, the Church stood by its belief on the immorality of gambling. Accepting donations from institutions espousing gambling is a way of condoning what they are doing, said Pinlac.

Pinlac said these institutions’ practice of corporate social responsibility does not justify the entry of gambling into the community. The government and the private sector have programs that can address the needs of the community without embracing gambling as their means to development.

Gambling opens opportunities for people to overindulge in this activity but makes them even poorer than before, added Pinlac.

In a related development, Panglao Mayor Nila Montero said ordered to check on the regulations of e-bingo in her town, after learning that even minors have been joining in this activity.

Montero admitted that e-bingo had a negative effect on the families, and she also suspected that gambling facilities in Barangay Danao of her town were utilized for the illegal drugs trade.

The mayor however could only lament that even if she has been against it she is left, for now, without any option against e-bingo in her town, because it was already well-established when she assumed office. (FREEMAN)