ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) recorded 482 illegal gambling-related arrests in a week-long operation across Western Visayas from Sept. 12 to 18.
Also, the 168 illegal gambling operations conducted by all municipal police stations in the region resulted in the recovery of P109,374 bet money.
PRO-6 record further showed that of the individuals arrested, 52 were nabbed for “tong-its”, 43 for “bookies”, nine for cara y cruz, and one for “peryahan ng bayan”.
PRO-6 director, Police Brigadier General Leo Francisco said these were the results of his and the national police headquarters’ order to all police chiefs to intensify operations against illegal gambling.
“Ang order against illegal gambling ay hindi lang galing sa akin, galing rin sa ating PNP chief, General Rodolfo Azurin, na bigyan rin ng focus ang gambling,” Francisco said.
On the part of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), their last operation was on Sept. 22 wherein seven people were arrested in Barangay Sinikway, Lapuz.
Suspects Madelyn Diaz, 46; Rodolfo Obidos, 63; and Danilo Gomez, 63, were caught playing “tong-its”.
Four people were also arrested for playing mahjong, namely Rose Dañez, 36; Faustino Capistrano, 36; Sunny Daned, 34; and Tadeo Boyco, 64, all residents of the same barangay.
Police confiscated a total of P1,002 in bet money.
The seven were all taken to the La Paz police station. They are facing charges for violation of Presidential Decree 1602 that outlaws illegal gambling./PN
