G.R. No. 207118 - Dissenting Opinion

G.R. No. 207118, April 22, 2025,
♦ Decision, Marquez, [J]
♦ Concurring Opinion, Leonen, [J]
♦ Dissenting Opinion, Caguioa, [J]
♦ Dissenting Opinion, Inting, [J]
♦ Dissenting Opinion, Singh, [J]
♦ Dissenting Opinion, Lazaro-Javier, [J]

The threshold issue in this case is whether a barangay is permitted to conduct fund-raising activities through bingo games without obtaining any permit from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or any other agency.

The ponencia answers in the affirmative. It holds that, following the enactment of Republic Act No. 9487,1 which amended the PAGCOR franchise under Presidential Decree No. 1869,2 games of chance, games of cards, and games of numbers authorized, licensed, and regulated by local government units are beyond the authority and power of PAGCOR to regulate.

Respectfully, I dissent. There is no explicit authority for sangguniang barangays to operate bingo games, even if conducted as a fund-raising activity. The express provision of Presidential Decree No. 1869, as amended, places bingo games within the regulatory authority of PAGCOR—not to any other entity.

The power of barangays to conduct fund-raising activities is circumscribed by national policies, standards, and regulations on morals, health, and safety.

The ponencia anchors its ruling on the principle of local autonomy which, from the language of Section 391(a)(11), Chapter IV, Title I, Book III of the Local Government Code,3 empowers the sangguniang barangay to hold fund-raising activities "without the need of securing permits from any national or local office or agency."4 The ponencia reasons that the "Bingo sa Barangay" subject of the present case was approved as a fund-raising activity by several barangays in Baguio City through their respective resolutions. As such, it is unnecessary to obtain a permit from PAGCOR before conducting this activity.5

It is well-settled that, in statutory construction, every part of the statute must be interpreted with reference to the context. The law must not be read in truncated parts; rather, it must be read in relation to the whole law. Clauses and phrases in the law are not detached and isolated expressions, but the whole and every part thereof must be considered in fixing the meaning of any of its parts to produce a harmonious whole. Simply put, all the words in the statute must be taken into consideration in order to ascertain its meaning.6

A careful reading of Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code reveals that the authority of the barangay to conduct fund-raising activities is not without limits:

The significance of the last proviso in Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code should not be overlooked. While a barangay may hold fundraisers, this authority is circumscribed by the "national policy standards and regulations on morals, health, and safety of the persons participating therein."7 Simply put, the activity intended to raise funds should fundamentally be in accordance with any policies or regulations at the national level.

Here, several barangays in Baguio City—namely, Barangay Trancoville, Barangay Outlook Drive, and Barangay Military Cut-Off, passed separate resolutions authorizing and approving the "Bingo sa Barangay" as a fund-raising activity within their respective jurisdictions.8 Without securing any prior approval from PAGCOR or any agency, the barangays proceeded to hold these bingo games by invoking their authority under Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code.

It bears noting, however, that bingo is a game of chance, as it is "played with randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers on cards with differently numbered squares."9 A player wins by being the first to complete the predetermined pattern.10 The conduct of bingo games, a game of chance, squarely falls within the regulatory authority of PAGCOR, which was created to centralize the regulation of all games of chance authorized by existing franchise or permitted by law within the Philippines.11 With the exclusion of bingo games played as parlor games or for home entertainment,12 bingo is considered a form of gambling. To be sure, unauthorized or illegal gambling activities, including games of chance, are punishable under Presidential Decree No. 1602,13 as amended. These clearly illustrate the policy considerations in regulating bingo games, even if these are supposedly held for a laudable purpose, such as to raise funds for a local government unit's social welfare programs.

The Regulatory Framework of Bingo,14 which the Office of the Solicitor General judiciously attached in its Supplemental Motion for Reconsideration before the Court of Appeals, discussed the procedure for securing the appropriate licenses to operate commercial and charity bingo operations. Charity bingo includes fund-raising events hosted by either private organizations or public offices, which may be conducted by the host institution itself, or in cooperation with PAGCOR.15 In either case, a letterrequest addressed to PAGCOR is required.

The conduct of the bingo game, such as the program, equipment, and even the bingo cards, are subject to the inspection and approval of PAGCOR.16 If the fund-raising bingo activity is held by an organization or government institution on its own, PAGCOR assigns a Bingo Monitoring Staff to the event. The organization or government institution is also required to execute an undertaking that the prizes, whether in cash or in kind, are readily available for awarding to the winners. All of these are safeguards intended to avoid game-rigging and manipulation. In this manner, PAGCOR ensures the safety, integrity, and fairness of the bingo games, even if conducted as a fund-raising activity.17

More importantly, Republic Act No. 9487, which amended the PAGCOR franchise, explicitly places the regulation of bingo games within the latter's authority:

The ponencia, however, does not consider the authority of PAGCOR over bingo games as all—encompassing. It has a different interpretation of the third paragraph quoted above-that games of chance authorized, licensed, and regulated by local government units are not within PAGCOR's jurisdiction. According to the ponencia, the autonomy of local governments is ensured by granting it the power to hold fund-raising activities for barangay projects "without the need of securing permits from any national or local office or agency."19

Aside from completely disregarding the last proviso of the same provision (i.e. "that said fund-raising activities shall comply with national policy standards and regulations on morals, health, and safety of the persons participating therein"), the principle of local autonomy does not clothe local government units with immunity from complying with the policies of the national government. The power of barangays to hold fund-raising activities, which may be considered an important aspect of implementing its autonomy, cannot contravene the explicit mandate of PAGCOR.

In Basco, et al. v. PAGCOR20 (Basco), several local government units challenged the constitutionality of Presidential Decree No. 1869, particularly for allegedly encroaching on their right to impose local taxes and license fees. The Court upheld the validity of Presidential Decree No. 1869 as the power of local government is always subject to the limitations provided by national law:

In other words, local autonomy cannot prevail over the dear national policy to centralize the regulation of all games of chance. This is apparent from the first whereas clause and declaration of policy in Presidential Decree No. 1869 which created PAGCOR precisely for purposes of centralizing the regulation of gambling and games of chance into one corporate entity.22

Verily, the mere fact that local government units possess local autonomy is not, and cannot be deemed, a blanket authority for barangays to raise revenues in any manner it deems necessary. Local autonomy is always understood in the context of the Philippines being a unitary State, with a national government that centrally exercises state functions. Thus, the local autonomy of local governments remains circumscribed by the relevant statutes and national policies. Here, a plain reading of Section 391 of the Local Government Code reveals that there is no explicit grant of authority to barangays to operate "Bingo sa Barangay" or any such game of chance without obtaining the necessary permits. Neither does this provision expressly authorize barangays to license bingo games or operations outside the regulatory framework of PAGCOR.

There is no express statutory authority for sangguniang barangays to operate bingo games without securing a permit from PAGCOR.

In his Concurring Opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen asserts that the appropriate manner of harmonizing the authority of PAGCOR and the barangays is to consider the PAGCOR Charter as a general law on the regulation of gambling, and the Local Government Code as a special law. Between a general law (the PAGCOR Charter) and a special law (the Local Government Code), it is the latter that should prevail.23

The authority of the sangguniang barangay to conduct fund-raising activities is general in character, as it covers any activity that involves raising money for a particular purpose—not just to bingo games or any gambling activity. On the other hand, the authority of PAGCOR under Section 10 of Presidential Decree No. 1869, as amended, specifically covers games of chance, particularly, bingo, whether for purposes of raising funds or otherwise. Thus, as regards bingo games, Section 10 of Presidential Decree No. 1869, as amended constitutes a particular prescription that PAGCOR shall have authority to license and operate all bingo games, unless it is already "covered by existing franchises, regulatory bodies or special laws."24

To be sure, had Congress intended to divest from PAGCOR the authority to conduct bingo games, it would have expressly done so, as it did with cockfighting. Presidential Decree No. 449,25 a special law, governs cockfighting and expressly authorized the city and municipal mayors to issue licenses for the operation and maintenance of cockpits in their territorial jurisdiction, viz.:

Section 6. Licensing of Cockpits. City and municipal mayors are authorized to issue licenses for the operation and maintenance of cockpits subject to the approval of the Chief of Constabulary or his authorized representatives. For this purpose, ordinances may be promulgated for the imposition and collection of taxes and fees not exceeding the rates fixed under Section 13, paragraphs (a) and (b); and 19; paragraph (g) 16 of Presidential Decree No. 231, dated June 28, 1973, otherwise known as the Local Tax Code, as amended.

Following the effectivity of the Local Government Code, this authority was transferred from the mayor to the sangguniang bayan or sangguniang panlungsod.(awÞhi(26 Thus, by virtue of the third paragraph of Section 10, Presidential Decree No. 1869, as amended—which expressly carved out "games of chance, games of cards and games of numbers like cockfighting, authorized, licensed and regulated by local government units" from the regulatory authority of PAGCOR—the license to operate cockpits and permits for cockfighting is beyond the scope of PAGCOR's authority.

To reiterate, there is no corresponding carve-out for bingo operations in the PAGCOR franchise. The import of the exception in the third paragraph of Section 10 of Presidential Decree No. 1869, as amended, is to recognize that the games of chance, games of cards and games of numbers may, indeed, be authorized, licensed and regulated by local government units when such jurisdiction and powers are accorded by law. In other words, these powers are not inherent in local government units. The Local Government Code does not expressly say so, and insofar as the conduct of bingo operations is concerned, it is also not expressly provided for under the Local Government Code, unlike with cockfighting. Contrary to the interpretation of the ponencia, Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code cannot be relied upon as basis.

In all, that barangays are authorized under Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code to conduct "fund-raising activities . . . without the need of securing permits from any national or local office or agency" does not mean that it is exempt from securing permits in all instances. To be sure, the term "fund-raising [activity]" in Section 391(a)(11) is used in the general sense and may cover any endeavor intended to solicit or bring in financial support. Thus, barangays may generally conduct such activities without securing permits from any agency or other local government unit. However, it is erroneous to presume that any and all fund-raising activities, including bingo, games of chance, or other games regulated by PAGCOR, is authorized by virtue of Section 391(a)(11). The breadth of activities that may be covered by this term necessarily includes activities or programs that may be subject to special laws. Verily, as Section 391(a)(11) itself provides, the barangay cannot supersede the regulatory requirements over specific activities, as these are always subject to national policy standards and regulations on morality, health, and safety.

It also bears noting that recently, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued Memorandum Circular No. 2023-074,27 directing local government units and officials to discontinue operating "Bingo sa Barangay," "Barangay Lucky Bingo," and other illegal numbers games. The DILG recognized that unauthorized games of chance are punishable under Presidential Decree No. 1602, and only PAGCOR may control and supervise the conduct of these games. The ponencia, however, insists that the DILG cannot impose its own interpretation of the law, as this is the function of the Court.28 But, to my mind, the DILG Memorandum Circular was not issued to interpret or adjudicate any conflicting claims. It merely implemented the plain text of the relevant statutes, and provided guidance, consistent with its mandate to assist the President in the supervision of local government units.29

Based on the foregoing, it is grievously erroneous to read the phrase "fund-raising activities for barangay projects without the need of securing permits from any national or local office or agency" in isolation. The same provision granting this authority to barangays also defined the contours of this authority, categorically stating that "said fund-raising activities shall comply with national policy standards and regulations on morals, health, and safety of the persons participating therein." There being clear national policy standards and regulations for the conduct of games of chance, including bingo, barangays cannot simply dispense with the necessary permits. To reiterate, "[a] statute must be so construed as to harmonize and give effect to all its provisions whenever possible."30 Thus, the ponencia should not cherry-pick which portions of the provision should apply, effectively clothing the bingo operations of barangays with legitimacy by the mere expedient of labeling these games as fund-raising activities. Neither Section 391(a)(11) of the Local Government Code nor the relevant regulations on gambling activities sanction the barangay's conduct of bingo games without the prior approval of PAGCOR.