Woman accuses cops of stealing P500K cash

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — A woman claimed she lost P500,000 in cash following an anti-gambling operation by members of the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) Wednesday evening at Jaro district in this city.

Ma. Lissa Punzalan, 39, of Brgy. Cubay, Jaro district complained to the Jaro Police Station that a group of eight armed men allegedly barged into her residential compound by breaking open the gate.

Punzalan alleged the "armed men" poked their rifles at the compound's occupants and searched the area, prompting her to call for assistance from barangay officials, led by village chairman Renato Villegas.

Punzalan claimed that she even asked the identities of the men and told them not to leave her property until her lawyer arrives.

She and Villegas also said they asked the "armed men" if they were policemen and asked them to present a search warrant, but their questions fell on deaf ears.

The eight "armed men" reportedly left the area when neighbors started to arrive, said Punzalan, further alleging that P500,000 in cash was taken from the drawer of her husband, Jimmy.

The "armed men" also took with them Punzalan's sister-in-law Sherryl Cortez, 27, of Brgy. Cubay, Jaro; and caretakers Noriel Celestial, 59, of Brgy. Tabuc Suba, Jaro, and Noeme Itchon, 50, of Brgy. West Habog-Habog, Molo district.

It turned out later on that the "armed men" Punzalan was referring to were members of the RSOG who were conducting an anti-illegal gambling raid.

According to Chief Insp. Julius Jacinto, RSOG section chief, the three (Cortez, Celestial and Itchon) were arrested for alleged violation of Republic Act 9287 or the illegal gambling law.

Shortly before the raid, the operatives allegedly saw a suspected bet collector of First 2 game in Jaro area.

Jacinto told The FREEMAN they did not arrest the suspected collector because they wanted to know where he was remitting the bet collections. They tailed the man until they reached a compound allegedly owned by Jimmy, husband of Punzalan.

Under RSOG's intelligence information, Jimmy was considered an operator of Daily Double and First 2, both illegal gambling games.

"We saw them (the three arrested suspects) in plain view tallying bets for First 2, that's why we arrested them," said Jacinto, adding that the three are now detained pending the filing of charges against them.

Jacinto denied Punzalan's allegation, saying the operatives did not force open the compoun's gate because it was already open when they arrived.

He also denied taking the money from Punzalan. "Papa'no namin kukunin yung pera eh hindi naman kami pumasok sa bahay nila?" he said. (FREEMAN)