Churchill Aguilar THE issue about the proposed opening of a casino in the city has started to die down. Unlike the issues on EJK and the capital punishments, the casino issue does not seem to elicit strong objections from the local population. Mostly because most of the millennials could not relate yet with casino gambling per se.  With this kind of reaction, the local leaders are gaining confidence to let this through as they slowly become vocal in their support. But I say not just yet. I may not have the statistics to show the evils that the culture of gambling brings in a city but I have enough anecdotes to point just how it can ruin a life of a person, his family and his friends. Let me share to you two stories of my friends. Both of them come from prominent families owning big businesses. One in Manila, the other in Cebu. Both were very intelligent, good looking, and very kind-hearted. We even thought they would become great and influential people in society until they got hooked to gambling in casinos. This is more heartbreaking for me because I was with them on many occasions when they were at the height of their gambling addiction and I felt helpless. I saw how their eyes sparkled every time they won and I witnessed their outbursts too when they lost. Although their stories did not happen at the same time as both came from two different generations, both underwent similar cycles. They both ran out of cash to play so they started to become more resourceful. One started to commit fraud from among us, his friends, ripping more than a million collectively while the other got his money from his family’s piggy bank and even from me. Sadly both as well got hooked into drugs. Well, there are obvious reasons why almost always gambling and drugs go together, for one, they need to be very sharp when they play and certain drugs do the trick. To make the story short, their troubles continued to haunt them as of this writing, but it was their families and friends who were mostly affected and who ended up solving it for them. So is gambling a problem? A big yes. Why? Well, it is addictive. That should settle it all. So what? It’s their money! Well, wait for a little while, the house always wins, they will eventually run out of money and that my friend will no longer be just their problem. To our businessmen, there are way more ways to earn in the city other than build a casino. Please, spare the lives of our people and their families. This brings me to ask, are we going to allow a casino to get into our city? Hell no! Good thing two of the requirements are  (1) a resolution from the city council allowing it to operate, and (2) a certificate of no objection from the religious group and civic society. As with the first one, I doubt if we can stop the city council from issuing a resolution, some of them have vested interests on the profit that casino gets.  Otherwise why on earth will they allow it? It takes our local money out of this city more than it gives back. But we have hope on the second one. All the church has to do is submit a declaration of objection to Pagcor. It is a piece of paper that will kill this issue for good once and for all. But wait, why on earth have they not submitted one yet? I knew for a fact they have drafted it already. Was the messenger intercepted by those who would gain from this, or are they looking for a dramatic timing, or worse, are they having second thoughts too? Finally, how long can we hold the fortress of making Cagayan de Oro a casino-free city? Looks like the odds are against us. Unless, of course, our local father, and I mean our mayor, will finally take a stand and say, “No! Not in my city!”