1,149 illegal gamblers arrested since January
THE Police Regional Office (PRO 11) said that from January to December 3, it recorded a total of 1,149 arrested personalities involved in various forms of illegal gambling as part of its crackdown on illegal activities in the region.
PRO 11 spokesperson Police Chief Inspector Andrea dela Cerna said that regionwide, a total of 643 operations were conducted by different police units under PRO 11.
The operations also led to the confiscation of a total of P394,624 bet money from various forms of illegal gambling including Last Two or illegal numbers game, cockfight, illegal card game, video carera, bingo, mahjong and cockfight, among others.
Of the six police units, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has the highest number of accomplishments with 384 anti-illegal gambling operations launched, 732 gamblers nabbed with P224,456 bet money recovered.
“Bukod doon sa pagpapatuloy ng campaign natin against illegal drugs tuloy-tuloy din po ang itong ginagawa nating kampanya against illegal gambling,” Dela Cerna said.
PRO 11 also strengthened the drive against illegal gambling under the directive of Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa.
Last July, dela Rosa ordered all regional directors to intensify operations against illegal gambling with an ultimatum that if they could not stop illegal gambling within 15 days in their area, they will be relieved from their post or transferred.
The internal cleansing is still ongoing to make sure that none of their personnel is involved in illegal activities.
“Naka stand ang instruction ng ating regional director dahil parang katulad ng ginawa natin sa illegal drugs ayaw din po natin na may mainvolve na personnel dito sa illegal gambling,” she said.
She also said that PRO 11 regional director Police Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan also issued a warning against erring cops involved in irregularities to face dismissal from the service once they were proven guilty of such. JCR (For full story visit www.sunstar.com.ph/ davao/)