No To Legazpi As Casino City!!!

This has been the one of the hottest news in Legazpi City. A Casino will soon open in Embarcadero, described as "one of the most anticipated developments in the city of Legazpi" and "is a major waterfront development located at the harbor area of Legazpi City adjacent to the alluring Kapuntukan Hill (also called Sleeping Lion Hill)".

I just posted this in my Facebook account: "No to Legazpi as Casino City!", and a couple of reactions have been cast already. Well, such reaction is anticipated as is a rain with a heavy and dark mass of clouds. Well, this is a legitimate question indeed, "What's wrong with a Casino in a premiere city such as Legazpi?" Another friend even made a comment that sounds like, "are these people protesting against a casino in Embarcadero taking morality as their grounds are actually living a moral life?" Two legitimate questions actually.

With the first question, there are too many to mention short-time and long-time effects of Casinos. Quoting CBCP former president and Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, when he slammed the proposal to allow casinos to operate in the country when they were first proposed last year with P2.85 billion (approx US$60.5 million) budget for 2009, “These official gambling houses do not only cater to those who crave for the money of everybody else, but in effect provide for the making of gambling addicts, for their commission of different crimes to sustain their vice of gambling—to the extent of doing away with own families." This was further supported by Pamalakaya, a legitimate fisherfolk alliance in the country. They knew the one of the effects of casinos in the lives of the small fishermen when 16 years ago, the government forcibly evicted about 5,000 fishing families in Pasay Reclamation Area along Manila Bay to pave way for more reclamation of more coastal waters to host the ambitious multi-billion dollar casino and entertainment complex along the bay.

Not only those, the real point of casinos in the lives of people is that they usually produce an array of crimes like prostitution, breaking up of families, theft, embezzlement of funds, issuance of bad checks and aggravated burglary, including increasing cases of child abuse and family abandonment. All of those so to sustain their vice of gambling. All of those mentioned are just a few reasons why we are questioning and protesting against the putting up of casinos in Legazpi City. All of those are the reasons why we question it based on the grounds of morality.


In addition, people who are proposing the said casinos' are boasting of thousands or even millions of pesos of revenues that these casinos will bring to the city. Well those revenues will just be spent to the cost to society of the problem gambler.

To illustrate the exact impacts of casinos on public, Pamalakaya cited the report made by U.S. Senator Paul Simon to the U.S. Senate Committee investigating the effects of casinos on the American public. Quoting Simon's report in the U.S. Senate in the early 1990s, the group said, “Costs to society of the problem gambler vary from the most conservative estimate of US$13,200 to US$30,000 per year."

According to a study cited in the senator report, "Overall, the state gains US$326 million in net revenue from the presence of the casinos. However, this figure is reduced substantially -- to US$166.25 million -- when even the lowest estimated social costs of compulsive gambling are included in the calculations. With mid-range estimated social costs, the overall impact becomes negligible, while with higher social-cost estimates, the impact becomes clearly negative."

The fisherfolk group further stressed the presence of casinos would attract more people to gamble as in the case of Illinois: “The Simon report points out that nationally, less than 1 percent or 0.77 percent of the population are compulsive gamblers, but when enterprises are located near a population, that number increases two to seven times."

The second question of are we living moral lives to speak against something immoral? Well, she might first ask the people in the Diocese of Legazpi if they do, because they are in the front lines with us against the putting up of casinos in the city. Besides, that is out of the question. As I've answered her, immorality is man's second nature. But as men, we do struggle to the point of overcoming such weakness. Besides, if we will allow ourselves to be conquered by our own weakness, then we will stay in one corner, with our tails between our legs. Anyways, that is basically out of the question. She's a political science student, so I know she will understand the hollowness in her reasoning.

Going back, we had the same questions before the Embarcadero was opened. That time, they did not even tilted a head to listen. Now, many local fisherfolks were dislocated as they were forcibly evicted as well so the construction of Embarcadero will push through. Remaining local fishermen are also ailing because of the alarming scarcity of fishes which was unlikely before the Embarcadero was constructed. Soon, we will be summarizing here the many lives and families broken and disentangled and many more social problems that will pester the city like flies and cockroaches.
People might see us as hindrance to development. People might see this as just for the sake of protesting, the leftist way. Again, the question here is morality, not economy. Lest we will answer to the children of the deranged and broke gamblers who will be attracted by these casinos. If we can stop such hideous effects now, what's to be afraid of voicing out againsts the cause?

YES TO PROGRESS, NO TO GAMBLING!
NO TO LEGAZPI AS CASINO CITY!