26 jueteng collectors fall in P’sinan, Ilocos Sur

CAMP FLORENDO, La Union, Philippines – Going all-out against all forms of illegal gambling, the Region 1 police arrested 26 jueteng bet collectors in two separate operations in Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Ricardo Marquez, Region 1 police director, said 24 suspected jueteng personnel were arrested in Barangay Paras, Candon City, Ilocos Sur while sorting out their collections. 

Seized from them were assorted gambling papers marked with jai alai allegedly owned by Meridien Vista Gaming Corp., P60,800 in bet money, and jueteng paraphernalia.

In Pangasinan, two search warrants for illegal gambling resulted in the arrest of a suspected jueteng financier, a certain Ricardo Ferrer, 51, and a bet collector, one Edzel Tantay, 30, in the Lingayen town proper. The two yielded P29,270 in bet money and jueteng paraphernalia. 

Marquez said appropriate charges were filed against the 26 suspects for violation of Republic Act 9287, which increased the penalties for the illegal numbers game.

Marquez said police will double their efforts to contain jueteng and other forms of gambling.

“We will continuously conduct intensified operations to stamp out illegal gambling in the Ilocos region,” he said.