MEDIUM RARE
President BBM’s announcement of a total ban on POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) as a highlight of his state of the nation address brought back a wave of memories of how gaming/gambling was born in Manila as a shipboard amusement during his father and namesake’s term in the Seventies.
The Martial Law president, Ferdinand E. Marcos, allowed gambling if the following conditions were met: Gaming not done on land, not to be allowed government employees, AFP personnel, policemen, and minors below 21 years of age. Adults were advised to bring their passports (just in case their identities needed to be checked and double-checked). There was only one boat approved for the purpose, its operating hours limited by law (and armed security guards). A fanciful thing that just popped into my memory bank: Waiters going around the boat as it sailed around Manila Bay offered sandwiches and finger food, along with drinks, everything gratis et amore, to players and kibitzers. (That was fun!)
What I don’t remember is how long the practice lasted, and when FM’s prim and proper rules were formally lifted several presidents later, when we began to see hotels on the ground taking over from that single solitary boat, eventually lifting anchor to turn into legal, licensed hotel and casino resorts. There’s a cluster of them now in Entertainment City, Parañaque, there’s the newest one a corner away from EDSA in Quezon City. According to the Department of Maritess, an unspoken rule is to the effect that this newbie will be the first, only, and last hotel casino to be given a license there, that is, if members of a powerful religious community are to be believed.
For gamblers or players (as they prefer to be called) or first-timers hoping to strike gold on their maiden attempt, the slot machines are dressed up in attractive ways to tempt – bright lights and colors, the jackpot of the hour advertised on their moving screens. You don’t even have to exercise your arm to pull a lever, you just press a button (or something like that), and if you’re lucky, the jackpot is yours, cash or check! One could choose to faint, but if there’s been news of that nature, I haven’t heard it.