Taiwanese parliament is set to legalize gambling on a group of offshore islands as soon as year end, legislative sources said this week, as local officials eye permits for three resort casinos to shore up their economy. The passage of a bill authorizing gaming in the Penghu archipelago would bring Taiwan into competition with other East Asia gaming hotspots such as Macau and South Korea, and upcoming casinos in Singapore, even as the global credit crisis make it harder for developers to raise funds for new projects.