ONCE again a casino ― that has opened “unannounced” ― in the neighboring town of Opol in Misamis Oriental has stirred the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro into action.
In a pastoral letter to local priests and parishioners, Archbishop Jose Cabantan decried the opening of a casino in Barangay Taboc, Opol town along the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan highway.
Cabantan said whatever “economic development or revenues” from the casino is never justifiable considering it would cause the destruction of families.
He said the casino would just create a culture of gambling and “breed a network of corruption that feeds itself” to the detriment of taxpayers and the poor.
Cabantan said the parishioners need better laws to uplift their economic lives not gambling in the casino.
“Gambling is addictive. We oppose the operation of a gambling casino even if it’s legal and much more it is clandestinely constructed in the archdiocese,” Cabantan said.
The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro covers the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Camiguin as well as the cities of El Salvador, Gingoog, and Cagayan de Oro.
Opol town Mayor Max Seno told a local radio station that he and the municipal council approved the operation of the casino and owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“We were caught by surprise. We will vigorously oppose its operation and would even resort to picketing its entrances,” Monsignor Rey Monsanto, a staunch anti-gambling leader, said.
Monsanto said they came to know the operation of the casino only after Fr. Joel Oga, parish priest of Opol, informed the archdiocese.
He said Archbishop Cabantan have called a meeting of the priests to discuss what actions they would take against the casino.
“I don’t discount the possibility of mobilizing mass actions to stop the operation of the casino. We can lie down at the entrance to stop any of their clients from going inside,” Monsanto said.
This is not the first time the Cagayan de Oro archdiocese battled with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) attempts in opening casinos in Cagayan de Oro.
On June 15, 1993, the archdiocese led by the late Archbishop Tuquib successfully blocked the opening of a casino in Cagayan de Oro by month-long protest actions at its entrance.
The protest actions convinced former President Fidel Ramos to order Pagcor to stop the casino operation.
In 2017, Archbishop Emeritus Antonio Ledesma also led the archdiocese and successfully stopped another attempt to open a casino in Cagayan de Oro.
