Regulation of billiard, pool halls, bowling alleys

Executive Order No. 327 is enacted under the authority of Commonwealth Act No. 601, which governs the regulation of places of amusement in chartered cities, municipalities, and municipal districts.
The order establishes regulatory controls to govern the establishment, maintenance, and operation of billiard and pool halls and bowling alleys.
The order aims to ensure lawful operation and maintain peace and order within premises.

Executive Order No. 327 covers persons who conduct or operate billiard or pool halls, and those who operate bowling alleys.
Executive Order No. 327 governs venues where persons are permitted to play on a compensation or hire basis.
The prohibitions and operational rules apply to billiard, pool, and bowling games conducted within covered premises.

No person shall conduct or operate a billiard or pool hall or a bowling alley for compensation or hire without first securing a license from the City or Municipal Treasurer of the locality where the venue is established.
No billiard or pool hall or bowling alley shall be maintained or operated within two hundred lineal meters from specified public and community sites.
The City or Municipal Treasurer decision under the paragraph on licensing may be appealed to the Secretary of the Interior, whose decision is final.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to decide protests and to cancel a license after proper investigation.

A billiard or pool hall or bowling alley is prohibited within 200 lineal meters from any city hall or municipal building, provincial capitol building, national capitol building, public plaza, public school, church, hospital, athletic stadium, public park, or any institution of learning or of charity.
The restriction in paragraph two governs both maintenance and operation, not only initial establishment.

A billiard or pool hall or bowling alley shall not be open to the public, and billiard, pool, or bowling games shall not be allowed, except from 8 o’clock a.m. to 12 o’clock midnight daily.
On Christmas eve and New Year’s eve, and on Saturdays and days preceding official holidays and town fiestas, the venue may be open until 2 o’clock in the morning of the following day.
Any bowling alley located in any residential section of a chartered city, municipality, or municipal district shall not be permitted to operate after 11 o’clock in the evening.

No operator shall admit minors less than eighteen years of age to participate in any game in a billiard or pool hall.
In bowling alleys (as applicable under the same rule), minors under twelve years of age shall not be allowed to participate in any game.
Operators must enforce age restrictions as part of lawful operation.

No intoxicating liquor of any kind shall be sold within the premises of any billiard or pool hall or bowling alley.
No firearm or any deadly weapon shall be permitted to be carried within the premises.
The only exception is carriage by peace officers in the due performance of official duties.

Any person who believes a billiard or pool hall or bowling alley is established or located in an unauthorized place may file a protest with the Secretary of the Interior.
The operator or concessionaire has the duty to ensure that the rules and regulations are properly observed.
The operator or concessionaire must ensure peace and order is maintained at all times within the premises.

The Secretary of the Interior shall revoke any permit or license granted under the order upon satisfactory evidence that gambling or playing of any prohibited game has taken place within the premises.
Any violation of the rules and regulations is sufficient cause for revocation of the permit or license.
License revocation also results in forfeiture of the license issued.

Billiard or pool halls or bowling alleys must pay a license fee of not less than ten pesos per billiard or pool table or per bowling alley annually or two pesos and fifty centavos quarterly.
Existing ordinances prescribing higher fees than the amounts stated remain in force until otherwise provided for by the President.
A city or municipal council may impose a higher fee only upon approval of the President.

Billiard or pool halls or bowling alleys operating on January 1, 1941 that fall within the prohibited zones or distances must be given one year’s notice to close, transfer, or otherwise comply.
The Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, may authorize in special cases and for justifiable reasons the continuance of existing venues in their present location.