Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 1757)
Gambling consists of playing any game for money or anything of value where the result depends primarily on chance or hazard, or using any mechanical device to determine the winner or loser by chance.
A gambling house is any building, structure, or vessel where gambling is frequently carried out or reputed to be frequently carried out, or where persons are invited or solicited to gamble.
A fine of not less than ten pesos nor more than five hundred pesos, or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, with a mandatory fine and imprisonment upon second conviction.
Any person having charge, possession, or control of the building who permits gambling there shall be punished as provided for gambling in public places, including fines and imprisonment.
Anyone who keeps, maintains, or controls a gambling house, or permits property to be used as such, or has an interest in it, shall be punished according to section three of the Act.
Yes, losses may be recovered within three years through an action against the gambling house operators or persons in control who permitted the gambling, with joint and several liabilities.
Games such as monte, jueteng, lotteries, policy, banking, per-game, and the use of mechanical devices to determine winners or losers by chance are prohibited.
No, gambling contracts and promissory notes given as stakes or to pay gambling losses are void and unenforceable, except to bona fide purchasers before maturity without knowledge of their gambling nature.
Peace officers charged with suppressing gambling who knowingly permit gambling within their jurisdiction and fail to perform their duty shall be punished by fines or imprisonment, or both.
Yes, no person shall be excused from testifying on the ground that it may incriminate them, but such testimony cannot be used against them in criminal proceedings, except for perjury.