CA stops jai alai operations

The Court of Appeals has temporarily barred Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation (MVGC) from operating jai alai betting and gaming stations inside the Cagayan Freeport Zone, the only area where the game is allowed. In a two-page resolution promulgated last June 23, the CA’s Third Division temporarily suspended the Aparri Regional Trial Court's orders allowing Meridien to operate within the freeport zone. The CA said it found it "imperative" to grant the state-owned Games and Amusements Boards (GAB) petition to halt the Aparri court's order. GAB has argued that the Aparri RTC committed grave abuse of discretion when it ruled in favor of Meridien, whose jai alai operations the state gaming agency has questioned. Finding merit in the GAB’s petition, the CA then said: “Let a temporary restraining order (TRO), effective for 60 days from service, be issued enjoining the RTC from implementing the assailed orders." Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes wrote the resolution, which was concurred in by Associate Justices Estela Perlas Bernabe and Elihu Ybañez. The Office of the Solicitor General, representing GAB, furnished GMA News Online a copy of the CA decision last July 7, Thursday. Meridien is the sole Philippine gaming firm that has a license and franchise from the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to operate jai alai fronton within the Cagayan Freeport Zone. Jai alai was banned in the Philippines in 1986 amid allegations of game-fixing, but was revived in 2008. The game originates from Spain's Basque country and was introduced in the Philippines over 100 years back. The Court of Appeals' resolution came four days after the Executive branch ordered law enforcement bodies to dismantle and seize illegal jai alai off-fronton betting stations, which are those located outside the Cagayan Freeport Zone. Meridien was only authorized to operate within the freeport zone. In a joint order, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that off-fronton betting and gaming stations could operate "only if it is allowed by law." However, the government did not find any law authorizing off-fronton jai alai activities. In fact, Section 5 of Republic Act 954 prohibits and criminalizes the operation of off-fronton jai alai betting stations. “Meridien can only set up its jai alai betting/gaming stations within the premises of the place, enclosure, or fronton where the basque pelota game is held, i.e., inside its jai alai fronton located within the Cagayan Freeport Zne, and nowhere else outside said fronton, in accordance with the terms and conditions of its CEZA license....," the joint memorandum order stated. - KBK, GMA News