By Jennifer P. Rendon
For more than two months since Western Visayas was placed under community quarantine, a total of 187 police operations were successfully conducted.
And most of these happened in the middle of April 2020, the time when the government’s emergency subsidy program (ESP) was implemented, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Gorero, chief of the Regional Plans Division and concurrent officer-in-charge of the PRO-6 Public Information Office (PIO).
“We don’t know if it’s coincidence, but we have been receiving information about illegal gambling activities when the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP) started,” he said.
Several of the arrested persons were beneficiaries of SAP and the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), police records indicated.
Of the 187 anti-illegal gambling operations conducted from March 17 to May 25, most involved violation of Presidential Decree 1602 (Providing Stiffer Penalties on Illegal Gambling) at 126.
Also, 60 police operations were conducted for violation of PD 449 while a lone arrest was made for violation of Republic Act 9287. Arrests on PD 1602 usually involved tong-its and other card games and even bug-oy.
RA 9287 primarily amends PD 1602, which imposes penalty on any person taking part in all forms of illegal gambling, by exclusively increasing the penalties on jueteng, masiao and “last-two” while leaving other enumerated illegal gambling activities with the same degree of penalties. PD 449, on the other hand, is the anti-illegal cockfighting law.
Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) mounted the most number of anti-gambling operations with 58 against PD 1602 violation and 23 for PD 449.
Meanwhile, Aklan PPO conducted 18 anti-illegal gambling operations; Antique with 27; Capiz with 3; Guimaras with 4; Iloilo province with 20; Iloilo City and Bacolod City with 17 each.
475 persons were arrested for PD 1602; 196 for illegal cockfighting; and one for RA 9287.
