The opening of a new PAGCOR casino venue, the Grand Imperial, was heavily criticised by the archbishop of Cagayan de Oro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.- Last December,\u00a0the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR)\u00a0<\/strong>announced the opening of the Grand Imperial, a new casino venue in Barangay Taboc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the announcement was not well received by the local catholic church <\/strong>as the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro published an open letter, signed by Archbishop Jose Cabantan<\/strong>, against the opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Cabantan, “gambling involves risking money or something of value on uncertain events driven by chance. Sometimes one can win more than the risk but ultimately gamblers as a group will lose over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. It is in this sense that we oppose the operation of a gambling institution even if it is legal and much more since it’s clandestinely constructed in the archdiocese.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A senior priest in the archdiocese told Rappler that Archbishop Jose Cabantan also called a meeting of clergy after the New Year to discuss actions to be taken on the new casino complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monsignor Rey Monsanto<\/strong>, the parish priest of the Barangay Camaman-an Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Cagayan de Oro, said that when the casino opened, the residents were “surprised”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Archdiocese learned of its existence through Father Joel Oga, the priest of the Diocese of Opol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monsanto even stated: “We will vigorously oppose its operation and would even resort to picketing its entrances.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last November, several Catholic church leaders<\/a> also expressed their opposition to the country\u2019s e-sabong bill.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Romulo Valles<\/strong>, Archbishop of Davao and former chairman of the Philippine Conference of Catholic Bishops (CBCP), said that online gambling, in this case, cockfighting, “is still gambling”.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said the enactment of the bill was going to promote an attitude that it is okay to use much-needed money for gambling<\/strong>. He then added such attempts to legalise e-sabong could cause Filipino families to fall apart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven bishops and a diocesan administrator<\/strong> from the catholic church also issued a statement against Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s plan to allow gambling on Boracay<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They said that allowing gambling would “destroy the treasured values, culture and life of the community.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n