Law enforcers push tougher laws on illegal gambling

MANILA, Philippines - Law enforcement agencies are calling for tougher laws against illegal gambling or the drive against operators is doomed to fail.

Sources from the Manila Police District (MPD) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that illegal gambling games such as racehorse betting, video karera, tupada (neighborhood cockfights), loteng (a numbers game) and sakla (a card game) are rampant in Metro Manila, while illegal numbers game or jueteng proliferates in Muntinlupa, Taguig, Makati and Pateros and nearby provinces.

“We make arrests but the operators simply walk away despite filing of the charges because prosecutors would tag their cases as RFI (released for further investigation),” an MPD official told The STAR. He added that the arrested persons were released for “lack of evidence.”

“What more evidence are the prosecutors asking for, when we submit already the gambling paraphernalia and amount of bet money recovered?” the source said.

He added that as far as he can remember there no illegal gambling operator has been convicted and “this only proves that the laws against illegal gambling lack teeth.”

An NBI source confirmed to The STAR that the cabos (area managers) they recently arrested in anti-jueteng operations in Taguig City have been released by the prosecutors for further investigation.

The source said Manuela, Tata Tom, Adiong, Formanes and Medina are the financiers and protectors of jueteng, an illegal numbers game, in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. They reportedly give payoffs to ranking police and local government officials.

In Pangasinan, jueteng operations under a certain “Bong C” continues to thrive despite a government crackdown, according to sources.

The sources said law enforcers are being blamed for the continued proliferation of illegal gambling, “but the inadequate laws against it are the main culprit,” they said.