GAB has no business ‘supervising’ Torre vs Duterte duel

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening.” —Alexander Woollcott

IT seems the Makati City-based Games and Amusement Board (GAB) has shot itself in the foot by “sanctioning” and “supervising” the aborted duel between Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Nicolas Torre III and Davao City Vice Mayor Baste Duterte at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on July 27.

In the first place, GAB has no business interfering in the conflict between Masseurs Torre and Duterte, which was purely a word war.

But on July 25, 2025, GAB passed Resolution No. 2025-08, Series of 2025, titled: “A Resolution to Ensure the Safety and Integrity of the Proposed Boxing Match Between PNP Chief Nicolas D. Torre III and Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Z. Duterte.”

The resolution was not only unnecessary, it contradicted the GAB’s role in licensing and supervising professional sports in the Philippines.

And on July 27, GAB installed a boxing ring and sent a referee, among other ring officials to supervise the bout that did not take place in the historic stadium, where Gabriel “Flash” Elorde defeated world featherweight champion Sandy Saddler in a non-title bout on July 20, 1955.

Good that Duterte did not show up. Good that the much-ballyhooed clash did not materialize.

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GAB would have been a party to a gross transgression of the law for allowing two unlicensed hot heads to fight in a boxing match designed for professional fighters.

Under the law, GAB regulates and supervises professional sports and allied activities to combat and prevent the existence and proliferation of illegal bookie joints and other forms of organized illegal gambling connected with all play-for-pay sports and amusement games.

In boxing, GAB will only sanction and supervise an event if the protagonists are licensed professional pugilists matched and promoted by licensed matchmakers and promoters.

Article 2. (Licenses) of the AMENDED RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING PROFESSIONAL BOXING IN THE PHILIPPINES pursuant to the powers vested in the Games and Amusements Board under Section 7 of Executive Order No. 392, s. 1950 in connection with Executive Order No. 120, s. 1948, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 871, states that “The Board may issue licenses to qualified persons holding contest and to individuals participating therein directly or indirectly.”

Torre and Duterte never applied for a professional boxing license in the GAB; no licensed matchmaker and promoter arranged the bogus boxing event dubbed as “charity” to raise funds for typhoon victims.

The bout should have been supervised by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP), and both Torre and Duterte should have been required to wear headgears as mandated by the International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA).

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When the referee raised Torre’s hand as the “winner” by default because Duterte did not show up on July 7, the police general wasn’t wearing a headgear.

Because they did not have professional licenses, Torre and Duterte were considered as amateur boxers and should be mandated by ABAP to wear 10 to 12 ounces of gloves.

The other functions of GAB are as follows:

—Law Enforcement. The GAB is empowered to fully implement and enforce laws, rules and regulations governing the conduct of all professional sports and games locally and the activities of professional athletes, game officials and officiating sports personnel.

—Professional Licensing and Supervision. The GAB issues and grants, upon application and after full compliance with all requirements therefore, license to professional sports practitioners and monitor their performances and activities to obviate any infraction of the terms and conditions of such licenses.

—Issuance of Permits. The GAB issues, upon compliance with all requirements and payment of the prescribed fees, permits for the holding of professional sports contests and competitions and regulates and supervises the actual conduct thereof.

— Rule Making. This Board formulates, adopts and promulgates rules, regulations, guidelines and policies to govern the conduct of professional sports and games and the activities and responsibilities of professional athletes.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)