The Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled on August 15, 2022 in two consolidated cases, G.R. No. 199972 and G.R. No. 206118, both concerning jai alai operations run by Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation (Meridien) under a license from the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA)1.
In G.R. No. 199972, the Court partially granted the petition filed by then Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima and then Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo. It nullified the Court of Appeals resolutions of September 20, 2011 and November 14, 2011 in CA-G.R. SP No. 120236 and lifted the writ of preliminary injunction that had barred the two departments from implementing their Joint Memorandum dated June 27, 20111. That injunction had been issued on a PHP 500,000 bond1.
The Joint Memorandum directed public officers to take the following actions1:
- Deny Meridien's applications for business permits for off-fronton operations and cancel those already issued
- Close off-frontons and seize devices used there
- Arrest operators and maintainers
- Prosecute violators of Republic Act No. 954 with dispatch
RA No. 954, approved on June 20, 1953, prohibits betting on Basque pelota games outside the fronton where the game is held1.
In G.R. No. 206118, the Court denied the Games and Amusement Board's petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals rulings of August 18, 2011, September 11, 2012 and March 5, 2013 in CA-G.R. SP No. 119842, with one modification: the pronouncement on GAB's regulatory authority was set aside for lack of jurisdiction1.
The dispute began when GAB's Anti-Illegal Gambling Unit found 13 off-frontons in Metro Manila and Rizal province operating under Meridien without a GAB permit, and issued a cease-and-desist order1. The order covered:
"the respondents and all entities operating jai-alai betting stations under authority from [sic] [Meridien] are hereby ordered to CEASE and DESIST from operating their establishments as such until further orders from this Board."
The Court also noted that CEZA had revoked Meridien's license and directed it to stop all gaming operations after the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel advised that CEZA had no power to authorize, license, operate or regulate jai alai without an express legislative franchise1. A Regional Trial Court in Aparri later issued a writ of mandamus allowing Meridien to continue operating under the license, a judgment that became final before CEZA obtained relief1.
What it means for players
The ruling concerns where jai alai betting may lawfully be offered in the Philippines. Under RA No. 954 as described in the decision, bets on Basque pelota games may only be placed inside the fronton or enclosure where the game is held, not at off-fronton betting stations1. The lifted injunction means the Justice and Interior departments are no longer barred from carrying out the 2011 Joint Memorandum, which calls for closing off-frontons, seizing equipment and arresting operators and maintainers1. The Court set aside the portion of the appellate rulings that addressed GAB's regulatory authority, so that question was not resolved on the merits in this decision1. The status of any individual betting station, and whether any particular operator holds a valid permit, is not stated in the decision.
What happens next
The decision does not set out a schedule for enforcement. It records that the Court in a January 27, 2016 decision had directed the Court of Appeals to give due course to CEZA's mandamus petition on appeal, where CEZA's authority to grant a jai alai license must be resolved1. No further dated steps are given.
For background on what is legal across the region, see Gambling Laws in Asia: What Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions, and for the Philippines specifically, Can I Gamble in the Philippines?.
Sources1 sources
- G.R. No. 199972, lawphil.net
