Police chief declines jai alai money

BACOLOD City Police Office (BCPO) director Celestino Guara on Thursday revealed that an alleged jai alai operator in the city offered him P10,000 in exchange for the release of a bet collector arrested by his policemen.

Guara said that last week, the alleged jai alai operator called him by phone, asking him not to pursue the illegal gambling charges against the bet collector in exchange for P10,000.

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"I declined the offer because I don't need money from an illegal source. I told him to settle the case in court," Guara stated. "I just want to do my job," he added.

Guara did not identify the alleged jai alai operator. However, the BCPO chief said this is not the first time he encountered such an offer because jai alai operators would usually call him whenever there are jai alai bet collectors arrested in the city.

"As far as the apprehensions of persons involved in jai alai operations are concerned, the BCPO does not spare anyone here in the city. If there are other jai alai bet collectors who are not yet arrested, that is because they are good at hiding. However, they should realize that, sooner than later, they will also fall into the arms of the law," Guara stressed.

Recently, BCPO's Vice Control Section and the Public Safety Management Unit arrested at least eight bet collectors this week alone. Most of them were already charged in court.

While there had been numerous cases of apprehensions of persons involved in jai alai in the city, Guara emphasized the scourge of jai alai is not limited to Bacolod.

Other localities also have jai alai betting operations but the number of jai alai related arrests can indicate how serious the local PNP unit is in the campaign against the illegal numbers game.