SC: Baguio barangays can run bingo sans Pagcor clearance

GAMING RULE Baguio is a "no gambling" community but the Supreme Court says its barangays are allowed to raise funds using bingo games without needing permits or clearance from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. or any government office or agency. —NEIL CLARK ONGCHANGCO

BAGUIO CITY—The Supreme Court, sitting en banc on Tuesday, ruled that barangay councils do not need clearances from local governments or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to operate bingo games as fundraising activities.

Voting 11-4 during its summer session here, the high court ruled that Barangays Military Cut-Off (near Camp John Hay), Outlook Drive (near Mines View Park), and the densely populated Trancoville (on the outskirts of downtown Baguio) are autonomous, as prescribed by the 1987 Constitution.

As such, they may use bingo games to raise funds, according to a press briefer the SC Public Information Office issued on Wednesday.

The court also cited Republic Act No. 9487, or the amended Pagcor Charter of 2007, ruling that “games managed by local government units are not covered by Pagcor’s rules.”

Section 10 of RA 9487 had extended Pagcor’s franchise for another 25 years but states that its authority to regulate public and private gaming requires “the consent of the local government unit that has territorial jurisdiction over the area chosen as the site for any of its operations.”

The SC acted on a case by the Republic and the City of Baguio against the Association of Barangay Councils (G.R. No. 207118), although details of the ruling have not yet been posted on the high court’s website.

It remains unclear when the bingo lawsuit began. However, Councilor Jose Molintas, who chairs the city council’s committee on laws, human rights and justice, and Councilor Isabelo Cosalan Jr., former chair of the committee on ethics, government affairs and personnel, said the controversy surrounding “Bingo sa Barangay” occurred during the term of former Mayor Mauricio Domogan.

RECOGNITION The Supreme Court has recognized the autonomy of Baguio City’s barangay governments to raise funds using bingo, which benefits three communities close to top tourist destinations, like Mines View Park shown in this undated photo. —RICHARD BALONGLONG

Independent

According to Cosalan, the decision affirms that barangays function as independent government units.

Complaints against barangay-organized bingo date back to 2008, during the administration of former Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr., amid reports linking bingo to the illegal numbers game “jueteng.”

At press time on Wednesday, neither the city government nor its legal office had issued a response to the decision.

Many of the city’s older residents have long opposed gambling in the summer capital, a position that became unofficial policy following Baguio’s recovery from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake.

For instance, one of the city’s 19 conditions for approving the commercialization of Camp John Hay in 1994 was the prohibition of casino operations there.

The Baguio-Benguet Ecumenical Group, a coalition of churches and religious assemblies, has led the city’s antigambling movement.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has taken action against barangay bingo operations.

In a circular dated May 22, 2023, the DILG urged local governments to help “eradicate” Bingo sa Barangay or Barangay Lucky Bingo activities in their jurisdictions.

The circular asserted that only Pagcor has the sole authority to license bingo operations and deemed the proliferation of community bingo illegal, stating that these were conducted “under the guise of holding fundraising activities.”