By Jonathan M. Hicap
Korea Times Correspondent
MANILA ― The Philippine Supreme Court Friday dismissed a petition by a Korean national seeking to redeem about $2.1 million in gambling chips he accumulated after playing four times in a Manila casino.
In the decision, the High Court said the petition of Yun Kwan-byung lacked merit as it ruled that Yun gambled in the Philippines under an illegal junket agreement between a Philippine casino operator and a Korean corporation.
According to the decision, a copy of which has been obtained by The Korea Times, Yun went to the Philippines four times between 1996 and 1997 to play under a foreign high-roller program agreement signed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and Korean firm ABS Corporation.
PAGCOR is the only agency allowed to operate gambling casinos in the Philippines.
The high-roller program sought to bring in foreigners to gamble in the Philippines at specially designated gaming tables at the Casino Filipino Silahis at the Grand Boulevard Hotel in Manila.
Under the agreement, "ABS Corporation will assume sole responsibility to pay the winnings of its foreign players and settle the collectibles from losing players."
Yun told the court that he accumulated $2.1 million in gambling chips but when he tried to cash them in, PAGCOR employees refused.
Failing to get the money, Yun sued PAGCOR in a regional trial court to get his supposed winnings. The court dismissed his case and Yun brought it to the Court of Appeals, which also dismissed his petition, in 2003 and 2004.
He then went to the Supreme Court and filed a petition against PAGCOR.
However, in its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Yun played under an illegal gambling agreement between PAGCOR and ABS.
It said that during the time that he played in the Philippines, PAGCOR was then covered by an old law that prohibited it from entering into an agreement with a third party like ABS Corp. in the conduct of casino operations.
The Supreme Court ruled that since Yun played under an illegal gambling arrangement, "no action can be maintained by the winner for the collection of what he has won in a game of chance."
"The petitioner cannot sue PAGCOR to redeem the cash value of the gambling chips or recover damages arising from an illegal activity for two reasons. First, the petitioner engaged in gambling with ABS Corporation and not with PAGCOR. Second, the court cannot assist the petitioner in enforcing an illegal act. Moreover, for a court to grant the petitioner's prayer would mean enforcing the junket agreement, which is void," the Supreme Court ruled.