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(Updated, 10:11 a.m.) Three committees of the House of Representatives on Wednesday opened their probe on the attack in Resorts World Manila, carried out by a lone gunman which left 38 people dead, mostly from suffocation.

The committees on games and amusement, tourism, and public order and safety held the hearing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, just across the casino.

The hearing was chaired by games and amusements chairperson Para帽aque Rep. Gus Tambunting, tourism chairperson Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres Gomez, and public order and safety chairperson Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop.

Tambunting said the attack dampened the country鈥檚 position as an emerging entertainment capital, but brought out the problem of gambling addiction.聽 The police described the gunman as a gambling addict.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 be able to achieve this if our investors and Filipino people do not feel safe,鈥� Tambunting said.

鈥淕ambling itself is not wrong. What鈥檚 wrong is when a person becomes obsessed to the point of spending what one needs to support one鈥檚 family,鈥� he added.

搁贰础顿:听听触听Death toll in Resorts World Manila attack rises to 38聽

Acop said the attack cast doubt on the country鈥檚 security situation, especially because the attack was carried out in Manila鈥檚 posh casino by a lone gunman.

鈥淚f a lone gunman, a civilian, can breach the facility of Resorts World and wreak havoc, how much more destruction if it is perpetrated by a well-organized terrorist group in the very heart of Manila?鈥� Acop said.

鈥淭hey may not have lost their bets, but they lost their lives,鈥� he added of the casualties.

Gomez cited the effect of attack on the country鈥檚 tourism, especially on the safety of tourists as well as of the tourist destinations.

鈥淥n the part of tourism committee, more and more arising to the surface are issues on tourism resiliency. At the core is tourist security,鈥� Gomez said.

鈥淢ore than this being a tourism concern鈥� we should always be on our toes safeguarding tourists and Filipinos alike,鈥� she added.

Resorts World Manila President Kingson Sian led the casino officials who took their oaths to testify during the hearing.

Nimfa Lanting, the general manager and owner of Resorts World Manila鈥檚 security agency NC Lanting Security Specialist Agency, also attended the hearing.

During the casino attack last聽Friday聽midnight, the gunman, later identified as聽Jessie Javier Carlos,聽barged in the casino carrying a rifle and fired shots.

搁贰础顿:听Resorts World gunman identified as Jessie Javier Carlos, a Filipino

He went on to torch casino tables and steal聽P113.1-million worth of casino chips.

搁贰础顿:听Security video shows methodical gunman in Resorts World attack

As security was in hot pursuit, Carlos holed himself up inside a hotel room in Resorts World, and then shot and burned himself to death.

The police has deemed the attack as a robbery instead of a terroristic act even though the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Carlos, a former tax specialist at the Department of Finance, was dismissed by the Ombudsman for alleged ill-gotten wealth and now faces a forfeiture case before the Manila Regional Trial Court.

搁贰础顿:听DOF: Resorts World gunman dismissed for alleged graft, corruption

The police has described him as a gambling addict who was banned from all casinos and was in deep debt before he carried out the attack.

搁贰础顿:听Deep in debt, Resorts World gunman sold off properties

His parents have apologized to the victims, calling their son a kind man but was addicted to gambling.

搁贰础顿:听Parents of gunman in Resorts World attack ask for forgiveness

The police has decried Resort World鈥檚 failure to implement its security plan, adding that there was only one security guard in the entrance for the graveyard shift at the time of the attack.聽IDL

搁贰础顿:听PNP finds gross security lapses at Resorts World