Councilman caught in casino may face admin case
Cordova Municipal Councilor Lemuel Pogoy may face an administrative complaint following his arrest for allegedly gambling inside a casino in Lapu-Lapu City, said Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy- Cho.
Cho said she will discuss the matter with the local interior and local government officer but stressed that she cannot do anything about the situation even if they are relatives.
She advised and warned other public officials not to be involved in gambling or not to play inside casinos considering that they are a public figure and should serve as example to their constituents.
A person addicted to gambling becomes greedy, according to Cho.
"Bawal gyud ang sugal kay kani man gud ang sugal, mao man gud ba ang maka-led nato og some kind of murag expenses nga di nato makaya sa atong income. Sakto pud si President (Rodrigo Duterte) nga i-bawal para to avoid corruption," Cho said. (Gambling would lead us to spending more than what we earn. President Duterte was right because this is to avoid corruption.)
Meanwhile, Police Regional Office (PRO) – 7 Deputy Regional Director for Operations Senior Supt. Dennis Agustin said that the arrest of Pogoy and PO2 Cyrelle Marie Bayate will serve as warning to other government official and employees including PNP personnel to stop their gambling activities.
Bayate was arrested in a casino of a hotel on Osmeña Boulevard while Pogoy was arrested in a hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City.
The arrests were made by virtue of Presidential Decree 1869 which was reiterated in Memorandum Circular number 6 in 2016 prohibiting any government officials, members of the uniformed services, students, and minors from playing in Casinos.
Agustin said that gambling in a casino has no difference from other forms of illegal activity.
“Wala namang pinagkaiba ang pagka-casino sa pang-masa na sugalan tulad ng sabong, iyun lang ay nasa sosyal lugar ang Casino,” said Agustin. (Casino is not different from cockfight and other forms of gambling.)
He said that aside from conducting close monitoring on their personnel's gambling in casinos, they will also intensify their monitoring on other forms of illegal gambling, specifically the cockfighting.
“Babala to sa mga PNP members at sa government employees na seryoso ang ating presidente at ang kapulisan para bantayan ang ating community. Kung may involvement sila sa illegal activities, nakakasira sa ating position bilang government employee tapos tayo pa ang gumagawa ng ganito,” said Agustin. (This serves as a warning that the president and the police are serious in going after government employees who are into gambling.)