'Ho eyeing gambling monopoly'

Macau gambling mogul Stanley Ho could be eyeing a possible monopoly over gambling operations here, an opposition leader said yesterday.

"Mr. Ho could only be polishing his Trojan horse in a bid to wrest control of lucrative gambling operations in the country," said Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez, who is Lakas secretary general.

He said he does not believe that the gambling tycoon will content himself with running a floating restaurant in Manila Bay.

"This initiative is in itself a floater, with Ho and his BW Resources possibly positioning for a bigger deal, which is to monopolize gambling operations in the country," he said.

The Lakas leader, who is a former senator, asked President Estrada to clarify his position on gambling.

He recalled that among the President's first policy statements was the intention to sell the government's monopoly on gambling, with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) functioning as a mere regulatory body.

Mr. Estrada's clarification is necessary so that the people can decide whether to accept the propagation of gambling as part of the administration's official policy, he said.

Alvarez noted that the recent decision of Pagcor to allow Ho's BW Resources to go into bingo domino, a bingo variation similar to jueteng, could be the start of BW's monopoly over gambling.

Pagcor has authorized Best World Gaming and Entertainment, a subsidiary of BW, to go into bingo domino.

Ho chairs BW, although one of the major shareholders of the company is presidential friend Dante Tan. The gaming firm is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange for alleged stock manipulation.

Opposition congressmen have described domino as de facto jueteng, a highly popular but illegal numbers game.

In both the legal and illegal versions, a player bets on a two-number combination. In domino, the choices are from 1 to 75, the same numbers played in bingo, while in jueteng, they are limited to 1 to 37.

In domino, the first and last numbers drawn in the regular bingo are the winning combination. In jueteng the secret operator draws the winning numbers.

Lakas lawmakers have vowed to question the legality of bingo domino before the Supreme Court. --