Legal Competition II

Let’s take a walk through the legislative landscape, and examine the specific laws which created our special (gaming) economic zones.  

RA 7903, officially known as the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Act of 1995,  created the ZamboEcozone Authority. This is one of many zones that have mushroomed throughout the archipelago, of which the more famous ones are in the former U.S. bases, Subic and Clark. The zones are legal jurisdictions carved out from the rest of the Philippines, on the premise that a special zone able to provide abundant tax breaks can attract more businesses to locate in the country, thereby creating more jobs than would otherwise have been created.   

Section 7 of the governing law for the  ZamboEcozone Authority states its powers and functions, of which the relevant clause is this:  

(f) To operate on its own, either directly or through a subsidiary entity, or license to other tourism-related activities, including games, amusements and recreational and sports facilities;

Take note of that language. We’ll revisit it soon.  

On the other hand, there is Republic Act 7992, otherwise known as the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995. Section 6, the relevant “Powers and Functions” section, says:

(f) To operate on its own, either directly or through a subsidiary entity, or license to others, tourism-related activities, including games, amusements, recreational and sports facilities such as horse racing, dog racing, gambling casinos, golf courses, and others, under priorities and standards set by the CEZA;

Note that the CEZA law does not directly state that it can do Internet gambling; there is no language prohibiting it either. What it does state is that CEZA can license “sports facilities such as horse racing, etc.” under the umbrella of “tourism-related activities.”  Is that umbrella wide enough to encompass Internet gambling?

But it is worth noting that CEZA’s language is much more explicit than ZSEZA’s.  Again, ZSEZA’s enabling law merely states that it can do “games, amusements, and recreational and sports facilities.”

How wide is the GARS language? Is it wide enough to include Internet gaming and gambling? The chief regulator of all gambling in the country is known as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., abbreviated to Pagcor, so ZamboZone proponents can argue that the terms “amusement” and “gaming” encompass gambling.  

This isn’t all semantics. Given the nature of the Philippines, there’s always the risk that someone will challenge both CEZA and ZSEZA. And whatever court challenge may appear will eventually go all the way to the Supreme Court. That process will take several years; in the meantime, those that do establish online casinos can make hay while the regulatory sun is shining.