New Cordillera top cop wages war vs jueteng

Sunday, October 30, 2011

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Newly installed Cordillera Police chief Benjamin Magalong vowed to implement the “One Strike Policy” on illegal gambling.

Magalong said he has been informed that jueteng, an illegal numbers game, is rampant in some areas.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

With this, he said he will implement the policy and there will be no shake up in command in the region but performance will be monitored.

He cited Abra and Benguet as areas of concern in the fight to eradicate jueteng in the area.

“We are going to have a conference later to talk about this,” Magalong said, adding he is aware of Benguet’s tag as a “Las Vegas of the North,” known for the proliferation of jueteng in the areas of Buguias and Mankayan.

The new police chief is a one-star general and a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1982.

Magalong also aims to resolve the peace and order situation in Abra, saying the province is an area of concern.

“We are engaging the political families in Abra for a conference,” he said.

He worked as an executive officer of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Police-Community Relations (DPCR). He is also a veteran combat officer who was assigned to the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, and the Quezon City Police District before he was transferred to the DPCR.

Magalong is a Baguio boy, graduating from the Saint Louis School Center Boys High School Department in 1977. He has also been assigned to the City of Baguio and the Cordillera command in the past.