Enrile's name dropped in Nueva Vizcaya online gaming

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s name is being dropped by gambling proponents in their conduct of online gaming here through a Spanish firm whose operation is said to be sanctioned by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

Spanish-owned Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. has been citing Enrile’s law creating CEZA as its legal basis for operating virtual online gaming here, which the Church debunked as a mere front for the continued jueteng operation here. 

Meridien, led by one Aitor Totoricabuena as president, claims that its CEZA franchise gives them the authority to conduct gaming anywhere in the country, needing only a mayor’s business permit for it to operate.

“Our operations are legal. The Senate President should have been complaining of our actions by now if our operations were illegal,” a Meridien representative said. 

But anti-gambling advocates led by Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena said Meridien’s operation is no different from jueteng, and it is only using the CEZA franchise to give legal cover for its illegal activity.

Created in 1995 through the Enrile-authored RA 7922, CEZA is envisioned to transform the economically and tourism-potentially rich Cagayan’s northernmost coastal areas into a self-sustaining industrial, commercial, financial and tourism center.

Despite Church-led protest actions as well as questions of its legality, Meridien went on to establishing betting stations here, utilizing jueteng kabos and kubradores (chief/bet collectors) to collect bets for its operation in the towns of Bambang, Dupax Del Norte, Dupax Del Sur, Aritao and Villaverde.

“I checked with the (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) and found out that there is no approved STL in the province,” said Villena, adding that gambling, illegal or government sanctioned, still affects the society’s moral fiber. 

“My position against gambling remains. I am as relentless as ever in calling for its eradication. I will never compromise my position of what is moral, what is just and what is right in exchange for material possessions,” said Villena.

Villena, also the chairman of the Regional Development Council, called on police to arrest bet collectors both for jueteng and Meridien’s online gaming, saying both are illegal operations.

But the police leadership here, led by Senior Superintendent Pedro Danguilan, is also in a quandary whether to heed the Church’s call amid Meridien’s threat to file charges against them if they arrest any of their collectors. 

Villena also criticized local authorities for apparently turning a blind eye on Meridien’s activity, threatening to expose those behind such illegal activities if they continue to flourish.

Meridien had already been endorsed by some mayors here, among them Bambang Mayor Benjamin Cuaresma, son of Gov. Luisa Cuaresma, after it reportedly promised bigger share of its revenue than that of another gambling group.