NBI arrests suspected race bookies financier

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) apprehended a suspected financier of an illegal horserace betting syndicate and four of his bet collectors in an operation last Sunday evening.

NBI Acting Director Nestor Mantaring said they nabbed Manuel de Guzman, 51, of Sampaloc, City and alleged bookies personnel Mary Ann Puda, Rene Bacolor, Romulo Magat, all of Sampaloc, and Annaliza Resurreccion, of Tondo, Manila.

A sixth suspect, reported to be a barangay official in Sampaloc, is still at large. The suspect is believed to be the protector of De Guzman’s operation.

Those arrested face charges of violating Republic Act 9287, which amends the law on illegal gambling.

The arresting team, headed by Regional Director Reynaldo Esmeralda of the NBI Special Task Force (STF), said De Guzman has allegedly been operating for at least 10 years and has established some 50 outlets in the Sampaloc area.

NBI agents said they applied for a warrant against De Guzman from Executive Judge Antonio Eugenio Jr., of the Manila RTC, after receiving information that the suspect was receiving payments or remittances from collectors.

For the past two months, the NBI has been waging a war against the illegal race betting syndicates.

In their past operations, Esmeralda pointed out, they have only arrested personnel and bettors. "This is the first time that we arrested a financier, who is the second highest man in a syndicate, next to a protector."

De Guzman reportedly told authorities that collects an average of P150,000 from his daily operations, or P4.5 million in a month.

Recovered from the suspects was a fax machine, three television sets, 10 telephone units, two vaults, communication equipment, two lamps, two calculators, bookies documents such as remittances and tally sheets and in P5,290 collection money.

Mandaluyong City Rep. Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr., who is also the president of the Manila Association of Race Horse Owners (MARHO), arrived at the NBI-STF office yesterday to personally congratulate Esmeralda.

Abalos said he went there to show his support to the task force, which has been receiving negative publicity because of the stepped-up campaign.

"They besmirch and blacken the character of the task force assigned to fight illegal horserace betting. It is always like that, be it a campaign against drugs, kidnapping or illegal horserace betting. Once you have a drive against an industry, they have so much money to counter these things," Abalos pointed out.

Illegal horserace betting operations have existed for almost 50 years. Authorities have long appealed to the public to bet at off-track betting (OTB) stations of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) because the government has been losing at least P1.3 billion from revenue taxes annually as a result of the proliferation of this form of illegal gambling.

"People place their bets with collectors so they can get their winnings in full. With the OTB, about 30 to 35 percent of their winnings would be given to the government in the form of taxes," Esmeralda said.