The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission is considering applying an amendment to modify the number of machines in agencies. The Police reject the initiative.
Puerto Rico.- It was known that the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission is considering reviewing the regulation that regulates video game machines or slot machines in horse racing agencies, and applying an amendment through which the number of devices operating in the establishments would be increased.
According to the local media El Nuevo Día, the proposal could even triple the number of slot machines in the gaming venues where horse racing is promoted. The proposal would have been presented by the Camarero Racetrack, through the company Light & Wonder, which operates the machines at the racetrack.
The interim director of the Gaming Commission, Juan Carlos Santaella Marchán, explained that an amendment to the regulation would be necessary to increase from 10 to 15 the limit of machines that each agency can have.
From the Association of Members of the Puerto Rico Police (AMPPR) they strongly rejected the proposal. El Sol de Puerto Rico published statements from Lieutenant José J. Taboada De Jesús, president of the association, who emphasized his discontent with the possibility of increasing the number of slot machines that the Horse Racing Agencies of the Camarero Racetrack can have, and said that if approved, the Retirement System Fund for the Police would be affected.
For Taboada De Jesús, the action of the interim director of the Gaming Commission of Puerto Rico “borders on the absurd, sets a precedent and goes against retired police officers and those about to retire, most of whom receive a small pension after having offered their lives for the security of the country”.
The lieutenant assures that promoting the installation of more slot machines in the horse racing agencies of the Racetrack is to discourage the use of video game machines on route, which are already legalized and contribute to the Retirement System Fund for the Police.
The president of the Association of Members of the Puerto Rico Police, pointed out: "We know there are 5,000 approved machines, none of them pay taxes or tax to the Department of the Treasury, so all the money they generate is for the owner of the Racetrack and its component, thus achieving a tax evasion endorsed by the legislature. The order that the director of the Commission should give should be to confiscate the remaining number of machines unused by the racetrack, so that the FISCO stops losing so much money."
See also: The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission strengthens the supervision of gambling
On the other hand, he assured that they had an agreement with the interim director of the Gaming Commission of Puerto Rico, his lawyer and an assistant, who would have promised them in a meeting that as soon as the Governor signed the regulation, the sale of licenses would begin and the implementation of the system of video game machines on route, which would be equivalent to the start of money entering the Retirement Fund of the Police.
De Jesús, also stated: "It turns out now that the Commission itself opens the doors to the company that evades the country's tax office, warning that they must increase the number of machines that a Horse Racing Agency can have up to a maximum of 15 terminals. Simple math tells us that a reactivation of the project that requests an increase in the number of machines for the racetrack is on the way. In the past, there has been an attempt to increase the number of mini casinos from 50 that operate today, to 125."
And he added: “These minicasinos (unfair competition for the tourism industry), operate with 30 machines each, with the exclusivity that they are exempt from the collection of taxes for the operation and for the prize they award. Currently, the racetrack has approved 5,000 terminals to install slot machines, there are already 3,400 operating without contributing anything to the Department of the Treasury. The Gaming Commission is encouraging the Camarero Racetrack itself to continue evading its tax responsibility by telling them to install 1,600 additional machines, which would later bring a request to the Legislature for more tax-evading machines, this cannot be allowed, the request from the Racetrack via the company Light & Wonder should not be approved."
The Bureau of Immigration has revealed some 11,000 foreign offshore gaming workers remain in the country.
The Philippines.- The Department of Justice (DOJ) has warned that foreign offshore gaming workers who are still in the country will face serious legal issues.
On Sunday (January 5), justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) found that about 11,000 foreign offshore gaming workers are still in the Philippines, despite president Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s ban on offshore gaming operators that entered force on December 31, 2024.
According to Remulla, those workers who are still in the country are people who did not downgrade their visas or leave the Philippines last year, as well as those who downgraded their visas but missed the deadline.
To address this, the BI has increased efforts to locate and deport these workers. Remulla said: “The President is unequivocally clear that offshore gaming operators have no place here in the Philippines and we vow to give our all-out support for the sake and welfare of the Filipino people.
“This administration stands firm in its resolve to intensify its guerilla operations against non-compliant offshore gaming operators.”
