Curbing illegal gambling

LAST week, President Rodrigo R. Duterte lifted the ban of the operations of the lotto outlets after a week of its imposition on the grounds that the agency behind the numbers game, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, was involved in corruption. As a result of the ban, the Department of Justice also ordered its unit, the National Bureau of Investigation to dig deeper and ensure that those who will be found responsible would face the consequences. But more than the corruption allegations, the bigger and broader issue in relation to the operations of numbers game in the country is illegal gambling. Illegal gambling activities, not only those based on legal numbers games, have been happening and that there have been allegations that those behind these activities were in collusion with law enforcers, enjoying protection from raids and arrests. So, aside from those corruption allegations, probers must also look into the existence of the illegal gambling activities and that the company must be nononsense to ensure that these operations will be curbed, if not totally put to stop.