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Roman Catholic Church Urges 'No' Vote On Casinos

By Frank S. Rosario on Saipan
Sunday: October 07, 2007

The powerful Roman Catholic Church in the Northern Marianas today had its priests speak out in the faith’s 11 churches against an initiative that would permit casino gambling on the islands of Rota and Saipan. The island group’s population is predominantly of the Roman Catholic faith.

The casino gambling initiative is on the ballot in this November’s mid-term legislative elections. The vote will be held on November 3.

In a pastoral letter in today’s North Star, a weekly Sunday newspaper published by the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, Bishop Tomas A. Camacho urged parishioners to reject thes latest attempt by pro-casino proponents to legalize casino gambling on Saipan and Rota.

Tinian is the only island where casino gambling is allowed.  Although five casinos are allowed on Tinian, to date only one, Tinian Dynasty Resort and Casino, is operating on that island.

“The Church has traditionally viewed gambling, per se, as neither moral nor immoral.  Gambling, however, becomes immoral when adverse conditions become prerequisites for or result from gaming,” Bishop Camacho’s letter stated.  “As an example, immorality can be seen in gambling when one usurps limited family funds and directs them to gaming.  This prevents the delivery of basic needs to family members, degrades the home and promotes other ills in family life.”

“The defeat of the Rota Casino and Saipan casino Act is what I strongly recommend.  Let us engrave in the hearts of our people that hard work is still the path that leads to a bright tomorrow.  Let us be guided by our Christian values.  Vote against the legalization of Casino Gambling for it will only bring conditions adverse to the common good,” Bishop Camacho stated in his pastoral letter.

The casino initiative next month is not the first time residents of the Northern Marianas have been asked to decide on whether to allow casino gambling on Saipan.

In a 1979 referendum, casino gambling was overwhelmingly rejected by voters on Saipan.  However, in the 1980s, the Legislature enacted a law allowing 900 poker machines, 300 per island of Saipan, Tinian and Rota in an attempt to attract more tourists.

The electronic gambling machines were initially placed on major hotels.  But that eventually changed and village poker parlors sprung up throughout the islands.

The law was changed again in the late 1990s to allow an unlimited number of poker machines. Lately, however, many poker parlors have closed due to an economic meltdown in the Northern Marianas, the worst in memory.

Casino gambling proponents are urging residents to approve the initiative, saying it will help pull the Commonwealth out of its dire economic straits.  Opponents argue that social ills resulting from poker addictions are ruining families and causing an increase in such crimes as murders and robberies.

The casino gambling initiative to be placed in the ballot would limit ownership to those Northern Marianas descent. It would be similar to Article 12 in the Commonwealth Covenant, which restricts landownership to people of Northern Marianas ancestry.

Proponents also say that casino earnings will go to infrastructure, educational, public safety, medical, health, and disability programs, among others.  These are the same arguments that were used to allow poker machines into the Northern Marianas.

However, officials of the government Retirement Fund recently pointing out that not a single penny from the poker fees was ever remitted to the program.