From an average of 20 cobra-dors in each barangay, Ngongo reportedly reduced his bet collectors to only seven in an apparent bid to tone down his jueteng business in the aftermath of the exposé of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.
A source from Ngongo’s camp said the crackdown on jueteng triggered by Singson’s revelations has reduced jueteng collections from an average of P400,000 daily from five barangays here to only P30,000 to P40,000.
But Ngongo seems unstoppable. Last Friday, the winning combination 14 and 1 emerged in the 11 a.m. draw, and the combination 27 and 9 in the 6:30 p.m. draw. Last Saturday night, the winning numbers were 15 and 16.
Before Singson’s exposé, the source said some 20 cobradors working for Ngongo were assigned to Barangays Del Pilar, Sto. Rosario, San Jose, Sta. Lucia and San Juan here, raking in bets ranging from P300,000 to P500,000 daily. Now the collections average only about P30,000 to P40,000 each day.
He could not say though how much the cobradors are collecting from other parts of this town also covered by Ngongo’s operation.
But the source admitted that Ngongo’s jueteng operation is done in "guerrilla" fashion, either aboard itinerant jeepneys or in a hotel room where revisadors or those assigned to check the cobradors’ lists of bets, determine the winning numbers.
The source said the winning numbers are now no longer drawn, but are merely derived either from summing up past winning numbers or even by picking numbers on a calendar at random.
At times, those assigned to pick the winning numbers resort to so-called "tomping" or assigning number combinations which seldom yields winners. Ding Cervantes