Regulation of Billiard, Pool Halls, Bowling Alleys

Executive Order No. 327 establishes regulatory control over places of amusement offering billiard, pool, and bowling games for compensation or hire.
Executive Order No. 327 seeks to limit the operation of such establishments through licensing, location restrictions, time restrictions, and rules on access and prohibited items.
Executive Order No. 327 authorizes administrative review, revocation, and forfeiture of licenses in cases of gambling or prohibited games.

Executive Order No. 327 applies to the conduct or operation of billiard and pool halls, and bowling alleys where persons play on a compensation or hire basis.
Executive Order No. 327 applies to operators/concessionaires who maintain and operate these establishments within covered localities.
Executive Order No. 327 covers proximity to government and community institutions and schools through a fixed 200 lineal meters limitation measured from specified public sites/buildings.

No person may conduct or operate a billiard or pool hall or bowling alley for compensation or hire without first securing a license from the City or Municipal Treasurer of the locality where the establishment is established (Paragraph 1).
Any operator or interested person may protest an establishment believed to be located in an unauthorized place by filing a protest with the Secretary of the Interior, who is authorized to decide the case or cancel the license after proper investigation (Paragraph 6).
Actions taken by the City or Municipal Treasurer under the licensing provision may be appealed to the Secretary of the Interior, whose decision is final (Paragraph 8).

No billiard or pool hall or bowling alley may be maintained or operated within a radius of two hundred lineal meters from specified sites and institutions (Paragraph 2).
The prohibited radius applies 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 (Paragraph 2).

Establishments covered by Executive Order No. 327 may not be open to the public, and may not allow billiard/pool/bowling games, except between 8 o’clock a.m. and 12 o’clock midnight daily (Paragraph 3).
On Christmas eve, New Year’s eve, and on Saturdays and days preceding official holidays and town fiestas, billiard/pool halls and bowling alleys may open until 2 o’clock in the morning of the following day (Paragraph 3).
Operators must not admit minors less than eighteen years of age to participate in any game in a billiard or pool hall (Paragraph 4).
For alley minors, minors under twelve years of age are not allowed to participate in any game in the bowling alley (Paragraph 4).

No intoxicating liquor of any kind may be sold within the premises of any billiard/pool hall or bowling alley (Paragraph 5).
No firearm or deadly weapon may be carried within the premises of any billiard/pool hall or bowling alley, except by peace officers in the due performance of official duties (Paragraph 5).
The operator or concessionaire must ensure the rules are properly observed and that peace and order is maintained at all times within the premises (Paragraph 7).

The Secretary of the Interior must revoke any permit or license granted under Executive Order No. 327 upon satisfactory evidence that gambling or playing of any prohibited game has taken place within the premises (Paragraph 9).
Violations of the rules and regulations are sufficient cause for the Secretary of the Interior to revoke the permit granted and cause forfeiture of the license issued (Paragraph 9).

Billiard and 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 (Paragraph 10).
Existing ordinances prescribing higher fees than ten pesos annually per billiard/pool table or bowling alley, or two pesos and fifty centavos quarterly per bowling alley or billiard/pool table, remain in force until otherwise provided for by the President (Paragraph 10).
A city or municipal council that desires to impose a higher fee may do so only upon approval of the President (Paragraph 10).

Billiard/pool halls and bowling alleys in operation on January 1, 1941 that fall within the prohibited zones or distances under Paragraph 2 must be given one year’s notice to close, transfer, or otherwise comply with the order (Paragraph 11).
The Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, may authorize in special cases and for justifiable reasons the continuation of such establishments in their present location (Paragraph 11).