Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Mayor: 80% of city police behind video karera operations By Froilan Gallardo and Annabelle L. Ricalde
MAYOR Constantino Jaraula said the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) can not stop video karera operations because 80 percent of its officers and men are on the take or if not, their operators.
Video karera, a gambling machine, has proliferated in 20 percent of the city's barangays.
According to Jaraula, the police officers operate the gambling machines themselves or through their wives or partners to avoid being caught.
"The corruption is already deeply rooted in our police force. It was existing before we came into office," Jaraula said.
Police Region 10 Director Teodorico Capuyan said two of the police officers facing illegal arrest and torture raps are being investigated for their involvement in the video karera gambling operations in the city.
Capuyan identified them as chief inspectors Jason Aguillon and Danieldo Tumanda.
Aguillon formerly head the Special Operations Group of the Cocpo. Capuyan took over his post after charges of illegal arrest, torture, and evidence planting were filed against him.
Cyrus Clent Jadap, a resident of Barangay Bonbon, Cagayan de Oro City, filed the said charges against Aguillon.
Tumanda meanwhile is presently enrolled at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Training School in Barangay Patag, this city.
Aguillon and Tumanda both denied they are video karera operators.
"Kung protector pa ko unta nakigpatay na ko just to protect the operator of video karera machine and besides dugay ra ko na-relieve sa akong unit nganong gi-implicate man ko," Tumanda told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro last April 15.
Tumanda declined to give any more comments because he will be returning to the Cocpo after his studies end this year.
Aguillon also begged off to be interviewed since he is facing a pending case filed by Jadap.
He said his operations against video karera machines during his stint as chief of the Special Operations Group will testify that he is not a video karera operator.
Aguillon provided Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro with a record of his accomplishment wherein his unit seized 22 video karera machines in the month of January 2008 alone. The machines mostly bore the signs of "Cobra" allegedly the call sign of its operator, a retired police Colonel.
Most of these machines were publicly burned with no less than Mayor Jaraula and City Police Director Isagani Genabe Jr., leading the rites at the Maharlika, Cocpo headquarters.
But Jaraula was not satisfied. He told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro he was not fooled by the public display.
"Puro kaha ra tong gisunog namo. Klaro mga karaan nga makina o mga reject lang," Jaraula said.
He said he noticed the machines that were burned no longer have the sophisticated computers that run the programs.
"Frankly, I was not satisfied by the operations made by the police," Jaraula said.
Jaraula said he had given instructions to Genabe to weed out the scalawags in the city police force.
"It is like waging a total war with your hands tied. You do not know when you will be betrayed by your police officers," Jaraula said of his administration's aim to stamp out the video karera gambling.
In an interview last April 19, Genabe said three police officers of the city police force are involved in video karera but declined to give their names.
He said it would be unfair for the police officers to reveal their names since there is no sufficient evidence against them.
"Mga hearsay lang dahil wala namang formal complaints laban sa kanila at walang concrete evidence," Genabe said.
