Teams created to oversee jueteng activities

A day upon receipt of Interior Secretary Joey Lina’s order to eradicate jueteng in the metropolis, Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay created yesterday "dedicated" teams to deal with the problem.

Aglipay said the newly-formed unit will not only go after jueteng financiers, cabos and bet collectors but also their retired and active police and civilian protectors.

On top of the police target list was the group headed by a certain Wally, a retired policeman, who allegedly drops Lina’s office to collect "protection" money from jueteng lords not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces. The latest victim of the group is a gambling lord, a certain Eddie Caro, who agreed to shell out P570,000 monthly not only to Lina’s office but also to other police units, such as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), for his unhampered jueteng operations in Rizal province, STAR police sources said.

Aglipay said the "dedicated" teams based in the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and the five police districts in Metro Manila will spearhead the renewed campaign against jueteng.

He said the teams will be under the supervision of Chief Superintendent Romulo Sales, the NCRPO deputy chief for operations. Aglipay said additional funding will be released to Sales to erase suspicion that they get financial operational support from jueteng financiers.

Earlier, Lina warned that a precinct commander will immediately be relieved from his post once the Task Force Jericho of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) succeeds in raids against jueteng in his area of jurisdiction.

A station commander will be sacked once two precinct commanders under him are relieved. And when two station commanders under him have been relieved, it will be the turn of the district director to go, Lina said. The last to go will be Aglipay after two district directors under him are sacked.

It is not only in Metro Manila that Lina has applied this scheme to relieve police officials remiss in their duties against jueteng but also in the provinces.

But since the Illegal Gambling Summit last April 3 where he vowed to shut down the operations of jueteng in a year’s time, Lina has yet to announce the arrest of any of the 44 gambling lords police have identified as behind the operations of the illegal numbers game in the country.

The failure to arrest a single gambling lord was blamed by ranking police officials in Camp Crame to Wally’s group who was suspected of tipping off jueteng operators of the Task Force Jericho’s impending raids.

A number of police officials interviewed by The STAR said that Lina’s sincerity in curbing jueteng operations in the country has greatly diminished with the countinued "collection" activities of the said group. "He should clean his surroundings first to convince us that he’s dead-serious in his campaign against jueteng, said a police general who refused to be identified. "If not, the people will realize later that this renewed jueteng crackdown is only a "moro-moro."

When confronted of Wally’s illegal operations, Aglipay chose to keep silent and instead tossed the problem to Lina. "You can ask Secretary Lina on that since the problem is beyond me already," Aglipay told The STAR in an interview.

Aglipay said the neuralization of jueteng cabos and bet collectors and their retired and active police and civilian protectors is one way to reduce the "supply demand" of illegal gambling.

The renewed jueteng campaign, he said, will be in coordination with other law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and barangay officials.

Aglipay said the campaign will include educating the masses that jueteng is dragging down the country’s economy. – Non Alquitran