PNP wants EZ-2 lotto operations halted

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will ask the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to stop its EZ-2 legal numbers game because its daily results are being used by bookies of the illegal game jueteng.

"Some jueteng operators have been using the result of EZ-2 in their operations instead of drawing the winning numbers for jueteng operations," Chief Superintendent Florante Baguio, anti-illegal gambling special task force director, said.

EZ-2 results are announced daily on television, Baguio said.

Under the PCSO’s EZ-2, a player picks a two-number combination from 1 to 31 with a minimum bet of P10 and a chance to win P4,000. The mechanics are similar to jueteng, except that in the illegal numbers game bets can be made for as little as one peso.

PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao is set to coordinate with PCSO chairman Sergio Valencia for the possible scrapping of the EZ-2 as part of the police’s nationwide crackdown on jueteng.

Police officials expressed belief that the PNP’s campaign against jueteng would be useless if the PCSO continues with the EZ-2 game.

Apart from EZ-2, PCSO’s legal numbers games are Lotto 6/42; Mega Lotto 6/45; Super Lotto 6/49; six-digit lotto; four-digit lotto and suertres.

On the illegal side, there are jueteng, lotteng and illegal suertres.

Lomibao said the campaign to totally eradicate jueteng in the country continued to gain ground.

"The one-strike policy of the PNP on police commanders who fall short of expectations in the illegal gambling drive has likewise contributed to the overall success of the campaign," said PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil.

During the first six months of this year, Lomibao said the PNP conducted 8,469 anti-illegal gambling operations, which resulted in the arrest of 8,294 persons, including 29 alleged financiers.

In the operations, raiders confiscated some P5.6 million in gambling bets with a total of 3,382 cases filed in court against arrested jueteng personnel.

Lomibao said a total of 13 police regional, provincial and station commanders in different parts of the country were relieved of their posts for failure to stop illegal jueteng operations in their respective areas of jurisdiction. — Cecille Suerte Felipe