Jueteng
Operated by Baguio Local Execs Raided
Jueteng
operations in Baguio City allegedly hiding under the cloak of legalized
bingo met a big stumbling block last week when Cordillera policemen
simultaneously raided “gambling dens” including a barangay (village) hall.
BY
ACE ALEGRE
Contributed to Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms. north of
Manila) – Jueteng operations in the city allegedly hiding under the
cloak of legalized bingo met a big stumbling block last week when
Cordillera policemen simultaneously raided “gambling dens” including a
barangay (village) hall.
At least 49 alleged jueteng kubradores (bet collectors) and
revisadores(checkers) were hauled to Camp Dangwa in La Trinidad,
Benguet to face violations of anti-gambling laws as Cordillera police
intelligence and investigation division chief S/Supt. Ulysses Abellera
insisted that the “Bingo sa Barangay” operation in the city and adjacent
towns here is actually jueteng.
“We have confirmed
reports that it is jueteng and not bingo,” Abellera told reporters
after the raid. “The Cordillera police have been receiving negative
feedback on the bingo-teng operations, and after several months of
verification, we found out that it was actually jueteng.”
Two weeks before, a local court declared the Bingo sa Barangay operated by
the Association of Barangay Council (ABC) as legal in the midst of
criticisms that such operation was jueteng masquerading as bingo
raffle draws, the proceeds of which were supposed to fund barangay
development projects. Its promoters led by ABC head Rufino Panagan who
sits in the City Council, and Trancoville barangay chairman Albert Della
had been insisting that it is perfectly legal as they are invoking the
right of barangays to generate funds in accordance with their “fiscal
autonomy.”
At least P50,000 ($1,012.86 at an exchange rate of $1=P 49.365) worth of
bets in various denominations and bingo-teng parapharnelia were brought as
evidences against the 47 arrested bingo-teng employees. The items also
included papelitos (betting receipts) very similar to those used in
jueteng operations and cards where the numbers of the
three-draw-a-day operations were indicated.
Abellera, who is also a lawyer, insists that what the court declared legal
was bingo and not jueteng. But the operators were drawing only two
numbers, he said.
Abellera however did not say if they will go after operators of the bingo-teng,
even as one of the two alleged dens raided on Thursday was the Trancoville
Barangay Hall.
Lawyer Edgar Avila,
defending the bingo-teng operations, told reporters that they would file
illegal arrest, contempt of court and robbery raps against the policemen
this week. Bulatlat
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