Jueteng campaign bags 32 people in separate raids

The continuing drive waged by Interior Secretary Joey Lina against illegal gambling netted 32 people during separate raids over the weekend in Metro Manila and in the provinces.

Chief Superintendent Manuel Cabigon, Task Force Jericho head, admitted jueteng continues to thrive in most parts of the country but he pointed out gambling lords are now operating "guerilla-style."

Cabigon warned that the latest developments would not mean that they will lower their guard in their jueteng campaign.

"They may be operating "guerilla-style" but we are fully aware of how they operate and already identified those behind their illegal operations," Cabigon told The STAR. "Expect us to make more arrests in the coming days."

Reports reaching Cabigon showed that 14 jueteng personnel were arrested in Isabela, another 14 in Antipolo City and four in Pasay City.

The team headed by Inspector Isidro Gapaz recovered more than P2,000 in cash bets in the Antipolo City raid while the other teams have yet to forward their reports.

Cabigon said the team leaders in Isabela and Pasay City have yet to name the financiers of their raided jueteng joints.

According to Cabigon, like in the province of Cagayan, past records of the Task Force Jericho did not show any raid conducted in Isabela.

The two provinces are among the areas listed as never been "touched". "They never expected us there, and that explains why we were able to arrest more personnel and workers," said Cabigon in an interview.

Jericho, under Chief Inspector Christopher Birung, raided twice last week jueteng dens in Cagayan and arrested 56 personnel while in the act of drawing the day’s winning combinations.

The financier of the Cagayan jueteng activities was identified by Cabigon as a certain Reyes of Bulacan.

Cabigon told The STAR that Jericho is now training its eyes on other "virgin" provinces.

He refused to name their targets for fear that it might jeopardize ongoing operations.

Since they started their relentless jueteng raids last month, Cabigon said at least 160 people have been arrested and P50,000 in cash bets were confiscated.

He admitted, however, that they cannot file charges against those named as financiers of the raided jueteng joints "in the absence of direct evidence."

Earlier, Lina blamed the low penalty on illegal gambling as the biggest stumbling block in his campaign to stamp out jueteng.

The deadline he imposed on himself to rid the country of jueteng lapsed on May 6 but it was not clear whether his campaign was a success or not.

But while Lina has still to make a public pronouncement on the issue, the accomplishments of Cabigon is doing the talking.

"Majority of the jueteng operations are done discreetly at present because no local police official dares abet their illegal operations for fear of being relieved," said Cabigon.