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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Friday, February 17, 2017
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ILOILO City – Police chiefs not doing enough to stop illegal gambling in their areas of assignment could lose their posts.
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is imposing a “one-strike” policy in the campaign against illegal gambling.
A police chief will be sacked if another police unit makes a successful anti-illegal gambling operation in his turf, explained Superintendent Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 spokesperson.
This policy will hopefully prod police chiefs to step up the campaign against illegal numbers games, he said.
The Philippine National Police kicked off the campaign on Feb. 12, some two weeks after it indefinitely suspended its drive against illegal drugs.
A city or provincial police director will be relieved from his post if three of his police chiefs are sacked due to the one-strike policy, said Gorero.
“They will be held accountable for their police chief’s lackluster performance,” he stressed.
The PRO-6 also warned policemen not to engage illegal gambling either as player, financier or protector.
In Iloilo province, the police have so far arrested 28 illegal gambling suspects between Feb. 1 to 15, said Senior Superintendent Harold Tuzon, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
“With or without the one-strike policy, I ordered my men to double their efforts against illegal gambling,” said Tuzon.
Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. is distancing himself from the campaign.
“Problema na sang PNP (That’s the problem of the Philippine National Police),” he said yesterday.
Illegal gambling is a police matter, he said, thus “it is the PNP that should be accountable in case of failure.”
Defensor said he had long directed Tuzon to run after illegal gambling and not just illegal drugs.
“The PNP should strictly enforce the law…indi ako ‘ya accountable sa resulta sang kampanya. Kay sa STL (Small Town Lottery) gani waay sila galisensya kag pabalo sa aton,” he said.
The governor was smarting over the apparent snub of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. (PCSO) in the selection of the STL operator for Iloilo province.
PCSO designed STL to combat illegal gambling.
STL operation in Iloilo province will start by the end of this month. PCSO’s franchisee is the Eagle-Crest Gaming and Holding Corp.
Defensor was also displeased that the provincial government’s share from STL operations have been slashed – from five percent to just 0.75 percent.
“Ang madamo income ukon parte sa STL amo ang manginmatay sang kampanya nga na,” he said.
Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) No. 13 stepping up the fight against illegal gambling.
He ordered the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to coordinate with the Department of Justice, Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of Information and Communications Technology.
The presidential order also directs law enforcement agencies concerned to coordinate and promptly act on requests of gambling regulatory authorities to investigate and put a stop to illegal gambling activities in their respective jurisdictions./PN
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