Two more suspected collectors of the illegal version of the lottery-based numbers game, “swertres”, fell in the hands of police on Sunday evening in two separate operations in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental.
The arrests comes as the Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental is faced with a daunting challenge to completely eradicate illegal gambling in the province, as ordered by the PNP hierarchy and the Department of Interior and Local Government.
The suspects who were arrested by a joint team of the PNP-Negros Oriental Provincial Intelligence Branch, led by Supt. Reynold Andot, and Bayawan police, were identified as Robert Habagat, 30, married and a resident of Barangay Maninihon, and Ronald Rasol, 36, married, of Barangay Nangka, all in Bayawan City.
Habagat was caught in the act of allegedly collecting tally sheets and three stubs with number combinations written on them, around 8:05 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Tinago, Bayawan City, a police report said. Police confiscated from him cash amounting to a little over P1,200 in different denominations and coins and believed to be bet money.
About 25 minutes later, the same police team, in another operation along the national highway in Villareal, Bayawan, swooped down on Rasol while he was allegedly collecting tally sheets and betting stubs. Some P700 in “bet money” was also recovered from Rasol.
The suspects are now detained as police prepare to file criminal charges against them in violation of R.A. 9287 before the Bayawan City Prosecutor’s Office. (PNA/JFP)