14 jueteng men nabbed in QC

The renewed illegal gambling campaign waged by Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco got off with a loud bang following the arrest of 14 jueteng personnel during a raid over the weekend in Quezon City.

Those arrested were in the act of drawing the winning combination of the afternoon jueteng draw when cornered by elements of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO) under Superintendent Miguel Laurel in Barangay Holy Cross at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Laurel said the arrested personnel yielded jueteng paraphernalia and more than P3,000 in different denominations.

Those arrested pointed to a certain Jesse Viceo from Bulacan as the financier of their jueteng operations, police said.

The arrest of the 14 people confirmed reports that jueteng operations continue unabated despite threats of relief and administrative charges hurled by Interior Secretary Joey Lina against ranking police and local government officials all over the country.

The STAR learned from sources that Viceo took over jueteng operations in Metro Manila recently after the business of erstwhile illegal gambling operator Tony Santos of Marikina City folded up.

Earlier, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Tor, Central Police District (CPD) director, named policemen Inspector Danilo Sarmiento and SPO2 Romualdo Malang as among the illegal gambling financiers in Quezon City.

Tor reported that Sarmiento, along with civilians Allan Alfaro and a certain Tepang were behind jueteng operations in Barangay Fairview and Nepa Q-Mart while Malang also has at least 50 video-karera machines scattered all over Barangay Fairview.

Sarmiento’s assignment was in General Santos City while Malang was assigned at the Regional Headquarters Security Group (RHSG) of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO).

The STAR source claimed that a policeman only identified as Benny Go, his brother Boboy Go, Roger Sacho and a certain Pura, were behind the proliferation of video-karera machines in Manila and Pasay City.

Velasco vowed to make Metro Manila jueteng-free under his term.

He said the first step to rid the metropolis of vices would be the identification of gambling lords, including those policemen who are either financiers or protectors of these vices.

Meanwhile, newly-designated NCRPO intelligence chief Senior Superintendent Gil Meneses claimed he is still in the process of updating their order- of- battle regarding rogue cops involved in illegal gambling, illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

Meneses said the intelligence family of the NCRPO will meet tomorrow at the former EIIB building in Quezon City to come up with a uniform strategy in going after rogue cops.

Velasco has ordered Meneses to monitor the presence of illegal gambling in Metro Manila and conduct daily raids after solid evidence was gathered.