PRO-6 dares PB member: Name cops who are gambling protectors

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  — The Police Regional Office-6 has challenged Provincial Board Member Gerardo Flores (1st district, Iloilo) to name police officials who allegedly received payola money from illegal gambling operators, to spare the innocents.

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Jr., PRO-6 director, said Flores’ allegations that several local government and police officials have been receiving bribe money in exchange for protection were “unfair sweeping statements, so, it is but fair na pangalanan na kung sino ‘yung mga involved para hindi na nadadamay ang mga inosente.”

Flores, in his privilege speech at the PB, said unverified and unconfirmed reports stated that mayors and the provincial police office were allegedly receiving P30,000 to P50,000 in monthly payola, towns’ chiefs of police getting P5,000 to P10,000, and the regional director having P100,000 to P200,000 per month.

The PB member, who was a retired police general, however did not give an estimate on how much a governor was worth, but he named illegal gambling operators as certain Jucaban, Odicta, and Onglatco.

Cruz, in response to the revelations of Flores, said the PRO-6 command has been continuously conducting counter-intelligence operations against policemen who were suspected to be involved in illegal activities. “But I could not categorically say there were policemen involved because that would compel us into filing criminal and administrative charges against them,” he said.

The top regional police official also urged individuals who have knowledge on the alleged payola business to couple their allegations with evidences. “In that way, we could file appropriate charges against them,” he said.

Cruz also denied Flores’ expose based on unofficial and unverified reports on the jueteng operations in Western Visayas, particularly in Iloilo Province and Iloilo City. “We have no reports of jueteng operations in this part of the country, though, bookies remains unabated,” he said.

Cruz further disclosed that PRO-6 had received more than P5.1 million from Small Town Lottery of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, P912,845.37 of which came from STL Gaming Corporation operating in Iloilo City, and over P4.2 million remitted by the PCSO-STL (Super Lucky Beagler Inc.) operating in Negros Occidental.

Records showed that out of the remitted money to PRO-6, more than P4.6 million was already utilized in funding various projects and un-programmed activities of the command, while the remaining fund was still subject for appropriations by the PRO-6’s STL Fund Board headed by Sr. Supt. Wesley Barayuga, deputy director for administration.

Cruz said the fund utilization has been properly documented. Last year, over P2 million of the fund was used for the trainings of personnel and repairs of facility inside the camp and other police units, and in the first quarter of this year, more than half a million pesos was allocated also for the same purposes. (FREEMAN)