ILOILO – Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), should be summoned at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) and be made to explain the “rampant” illegal gambling, said Provincial Board member Emmanuel Gallar.
Gallar wanted this done on June 26 during the regular SP session. The illegal numbers game “bookies” appeared to enjoy a resurgence after the Small Town Lottery (STL) franchisee in the province stopped operating last month, he said.
“Can he (Tayaba) assure us that the IPPO has what it takes to stop illegal gambling?” asked Gallar, chairperson of the SP committee on games and amusement.
Tayaba said he was willing to appear at the SP. Police operations against illegal gambling from May 10 June 18 netted 63 suspected “bookies” bet collectors, he stressed.
“These persons took advantage of the vacuum left by Eagle-Crest,” said Tayaba.
Eagle-Crest Gaming and Holding Corp. was the STL franchisee in Iloilo City. But because it failed to regularly remit the required Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts, its franchise was revoked by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) last month.
PCSO designed STL to combat illegal numbers games.
According to Tayaba, the illegal gambling business actually continued despite the operation of Eagle-Crest. Some STL bet collectors still solicited bets for “bookies” as a sideline, he said.
“Hindi sila na-sudden break, hindi sudden na-stop,” said Tayaba.
The IPPO director also said “bookies” bet collectors were finding ways to avoid detection by the police.
Some would solicit bets via mobile phones instead of the traditional betting paper slips.
Gallar said the SP should also summon the PCSO-Iloilo manager, Jeanette Lloyd and inquire about the status of the agency’s search for a new STL operator for the province.
Tayaba said he was hopeful PCSO would be allowing another franchisee to operate STL in Iloilo.
“Kung meron mang papalit, better. At least may katulong na mag-combat ng illegal gambling,” he said.
A source told Panay News two former members of the Philippine National Police, a retired Philippine Army official and a former rebel were the financiers of “bookies” in this province.
They tapped the displaced bet collectors of Eagle-Crest, according to the source.
The former rebel operated “bookies” in the 2nd District, specifically in the municipalities of Santa Barbara, Leon, Alimodian, and San Miguel.
On the other hand, one of the two former policemen operated in the 4th District.
“He had the rank of superintendent while still in the police service and was a cousin of a municipal mayor in the district,” the source told Panay News.
The other former policeman operated “bookies” in the 5th District in partnership with a retired Army colonel.
“The policeman was a cousin of a former municipal mayor in the 5th District,” according to the source.
In interviews months before he was killed in an ambush on March 13 this year, Eagle-Crest owner Samuel Aguilar said he had over 2,000 bet collectors across the province./PN
