Mayor links 2 allied brgy chiefs to illegal gambling

CEBU, Philippines - Mayor Alex Centena of Calinog town in Iloilo has tagged two of his allied barangay captains behind the illegal gambling operations in his town.

These illegal gambling operations were allegedly financed by Barangay Chairmen Santos Enriquez of Poblacion Centro and Vicente Arroyo III of Poblacion Delgado, both of whom the mayor said were his allies.

Centena however has taken a different way of ending the alleged bookies operations: He wrote letters to the two village officials asking them to stop the illegal activities, with the promise to continue warning them until they comply with his request.

Copies of the letter were furnished to Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Jr., Police Regional Office-6 director, Sr. Supt. Gil Lebin, Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director, and some media entities.

Lebin however said the other day that he was puzzled of Centena's way in stopping an illegal activity. "If Mayor Centena wanted to stop the alleged illegal gambling, he could have come directly to our police officers. Nabulabog na sila because sa sulat," he said.

Lebin confirmed that Enriquez and Arroyo have been into guerilla operations of bookies during the election period when police's concentration was for the maintenance of peace and order. He considered these gambling operations as small-time with a capital of just over P10,000.

Sometimes, these bookies operators also experienced blows if there are several winnings. When that happens, they would again stop and would continue if they could finance the operation, said Lebin.

Nonetheless, "we made arrests on illegal gambling," no matter how small this might be, said Lebin. (FREEMAN)