MANILA, Philippines — Last week’s tragedy at the Resorts World Manila hotel and casino complex has revived initiatives in Congress to impose a hefty entrance fee to ensure only those with the means to can hit the gaming tables.
One bill recently filed by Isabela Representative Rodolfo Albano III seeks to authorize the collection of a P3,000 fee from people entering “any and all casinos and similar gaming establishments for the purpose of engaging in gambling and other related gaming activities.”
“The purpose of this act addresses the need to ensure that persons entering any and all casinos have the resources to engage in any form of gambling and related activities … and to strengthen the regulation of gambling activities in the country,” the bill says.
A similar bill filed earlier by Misamis Oriental Representative Peter Unabia seeks a P3,500 casino entrance fee on Filipinos “with a gross income for the previous year of at least P50,000.”
The bill allows free entrance for tourists and foreigners who are not residents of the Philippines.
Patterned after the rules in Singapore, Unabia’s measure is meant to “dissuade (Filipinos) from gambling and therefore minimizing the impact of casinos on local residents.”
Albano, who was one of the lawmakers who inspected the Resorts World during Wednesday’s congressional hearing into the carnage, said the incident brought to public attention “the sad state of regulation an administration of gaming establishments in the country.”
It also “called attention to the sinister effects of gambling addiction especially among those who do not have or can ill afford the financial resources needed in casino gambling,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note.
The entrance charge to be collected by the establishment where the casino is located will be used to create a special fund for the setting up and maintenance of children and youth welfare centers under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Fifty percent of the amount collected will be allocated for the children and youth welfare programs in the city or municipality where the casino is located.
The Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Department of Interior and Local government and the DSWD are tasked to draft the implementing rules and regulation of the proposed measure.
