Two leading Philippine archbishops have taken opposing sides in the debate on gaming that is still rumbling on in this vastly Catholic country. Whilst one of them closes rank within the Catholic dogma that sees gaming, and particularly casinos, as an immoral practice, the other one deals with the issue of regulated gaming having a social and economic role to fulfill. As may be imagined, the positions have polarized the country, where gambling is an inherent part of the Philippine psyche.

Archbishop Capalla, who is president of the Philippine Synod, has a simple view of gambling based on real life events of everyday life, saying that his viewpoint does not state that it is OK for people to gamble, but if gambling exists then it is fine for society to benefit from the resources generated from wealthy people. He added that it is not improper to ask for economic help from government agencies such as the Philippines Association of Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or the Office of Lottery Charities.

When opponents of Archbishop Capalla accuse him of double standards he replies: “It may look like double standards, but I disagree. Let us look at the case of someone who is dying needing money, and he asks me for it. I don’t have any money, but I know someone who has, and this person is a gambler. If the gambler helps and does something good, does it mean to say that I approve the bad things that the gambler does or has done? I don’t believe so. This is a moral situation and I use my conscience, which ultimately will help us to decide between what is good and what is evil”

One could call Archbishop Capalla’s story ‘The Good Gambler’s Parable’, as it has certain similitude to the Christian position of ‘Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, which is in effect the tax generated by governments or Caesar in the times of Christ. Governments then make use of gambling tax revenues for social programmes such as health or education. The position adopted by Archbishop Capalla is no different from that taken by Catholic priests who lend their services to bless a gaming business on its inaugural day when requested by the business’s owners, who are practising Catholics.

The position of the ex president of the Philippine Synod Archbishop Cruz is one radically opposed to that of the Synod’s incumbent president, and aligned with the position of the Catholic Church since 1972. Such conflicting positions do not help the Philippine faithful, who over the years have heard the Church refer to gambling, amongst other things, as evil.

The Philippines people are said to gamble like most people in the world, simply not believing that gambling is evil, and accept Archbishop Cappalla’s position as a tacit permission to gamble. The problem for the Catholic Church, however, lies not on the gambling issue, but on the adverse effect that such confrontation may cause on weightier matters such as divorce or contraception that have nothing to do with gaming, but are aggravated by religious dogma that in most cases does more harm than good.

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